Labour's soft justice bonanza sees number of new crimes committed by freed lags hit record high as it emerges more than 79,000 prisoners have now been let out of jail early

Published: 07:02 EDT, 29 October 2026 | Updated: 07:02 EDT, 29 October 2026 The number of new crimes committed by freed prisoners has hit a record high in the wake of Labour’s controversial early release scheme.Official figures showed 46,459 new crimes were committed by prisoners let out of jail in the three months from October to December 2024.It was the period after the launch of Labour’s first prison early release scheme, known as SDS40, in September that year.The total was up from about 34,900 a year earlier, and equated to an average 7.55 new offences per freed inmate.Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data also showed that, more broadly, offenders who were freed from jail or had been handed another type of punishment such as a community sentence in the three month period went on to commit more than 138,400 fresh crimes.It was an average of 5.29 new offences per criminal – the highest number on record.The overall reoffending rate was 30.1 per cent, up 1.8 percentage points on the same period the previous year.Separate MoJ figures showed that Labour handed early release to more than 79,000 criminals up to the end of June this year.The SDS40 scheme, which allowed many inmates to be freed after serving 40 per cent of their sentence handed down by the courts, has since been replaced by a programme offering even more generous discounts.The new scheme means convicts will be freed after serving just 33 per cent of their sentence and is also wider in scope, with some serious violent offenders becoming eligible for the first time. A prisoner leaving HMP Liverpool in September 2024 - the cohort now shown in official figures to have committed a record number of new crimes Labour's early release scheme led to scenes of celebration outside jails when it was launched in September 2024, and more than 79,000 inmates have now been freed under the schemeEarlier this month the Daily Mail revealed Labour will conceal the number of criminals freed under the new scheme, prompting accusations of a cover-up.It is expected to free up to 50,000 prisoners a year.But unlike SDS40, the MoJ will not publish figures on how many actually walk free under the new programme.Instead, the number of criminals benefitting from heavy discounts on their punishments will be rolled into an existing set of statistics – and will be impossible to separate out.It will leave the public and MPs in the dark about the full scale of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s soft justice bonanza.About 700 criminals were let loose from jails across England and Wales on October 1, the first day of the scheme, with those serving up to 19 months’ imprisonment falling eligible.Daily releases have continued since then.The scheme has already been expanded to apply to more serious offenders handed sentences of up to 29 months.From November 10 it will be expanded again to those serving up to 39 months.Those serving even longer sentences will become eligible as the scheme is extended each month – with the 10th and final expansion, in early June, applying to those given sentences of 12 years or more.Just days after the new scheme’s launch one senior Metropolitan Police officer warned that one offender freed under the new scheme had committed a series of new crimes with ‘astonishing’ speed.Prolific offender Michael Bogle, 38, admitted 11 shoplifting offences and was re-jailed.The registered sex offender had previously been photographed walking out of HMP Wandsworth on the first day of the release scheme. Asked if he had a message for Mr Burnham he said: ‘Keep the early release going. It’s good.’Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has announced plans to build 50,000 new jail places if her party wins the next General Election, increasing the size of the prison estate by more than 50 per cent.