Fury as prisoners being let out under Early Release Scheme are returning to jail at rapid rate after PC Harper outrage

PRISONERS who have been released under the early release scheme are returning to jail at a rapid rate, prison governors have claimed. They say that many released under the scheme in 2024 have returned after re-offending, with one describing it as a “revolving door”. Prison governors have said prisoners released under the early release scheme are returning to jail at a rapid rate Credit: Getty The next early release scheme is due to begin in October Credit: Getty The next early release scheme is due to begin in October, with the first offenders freed in tranches over the next 10 months in a bid to ease prison overcrowding. But more than 51,000 lags were recalled in the year to March 2026 after breaching their release conditions – a staggering 28 per cent increase on the previous year. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! One governor from a prison in the north of England told the BBC the government’s plans to ease overcrowding were “short term solutions” and more needed to be done. “We see the same people coming back after being released early and reoffending again, or breaking their [release] rules,” they said. It comes after it was announced PC Andrew Harper’s killers would remain behind bars Credit: PA Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were previously eligible for early release after they were jailed for 13 years for manslaughter Credit: PA A second prison governor from the region also urged action on the overcrowding crisis or the “criminal justice system will grind to a halt”. They said: “You release someone to serve the rest of their sentence in the community and you think ‘now I have some extra room’, but then they’re back again and you just go round in circles.” He added it was a “big problem” and had concerns around what would happen when prisoners are freed from October onwards. One of the governors also cited concerns around gang rivalries due to the lack of space as prisoners from different areas of the country are held in the same prisons. Most read in The Sun Meanwhile, they also had “serious health and safety concerns” with some facilities facing staff shortages and some forced to hold two prisoners in a one-man cell. To make matters worse, they were also worried about the “fragile infrastructure” of England’s prisons, meaning many cells are left out of use. “We have too many cells we can’t use because there’s something wrong with them which seems ridiculous when you have an overcrowding crisis,” they said. It comes after PM Andy Burnham announced that PC Andrew Harper’s killers would remain behind bars after it was revealed they were eligible for early release. Bowers and Cole were jailed for 13 years for the manslaughter of PC Harper, 28, who was dragged for more than a mile behind their car when he responded to reports of theft in 2019. Plans to let out the killers in January – under Labour plans to release up to 5,000 prisoners over ten months from October – had sparked fury with a petition to stop their release reaching more than 1million signatures. Now, Mr Burnham has said “hundreds” of people will remain in prison as part of changes to the scheme designed to ease prison overcrowding. Prisoners convicted of historic child sex offences will also be blocked from changes. The Prime Minister ordered a review of the changes to the Sentencing Act, which is being undertaken by Justice Secretary Alex Norris and is set to be published when Parliament returns from summer recess this week. The changes increase the risk of the Government running out of space in jails, with only around 1,600 spare places available in men’s prisons. Mr Burnham said extra space in prisons would be created by deporting foreign prisoners. Full details of the latest changes are expected to be revealed by the Justice Secretary when Parliament returns. It was also reported on Friday how prisoners could be freed just a sixth of the way through their sentencing under new proposals. Proposals being examined by the Ministry of Justice could see home detention curfews (HDC) revived, forcing offenders to remain indoors from 7pm to 7am while monitored by electronic ankle tags.