The criminal justice system is on the brink of collapse

When a vast, complex system fails it first does so slowly, and then all at once. I fear that the justice system in England and Wales is about to collapse. The prisons are effectively full. An average of 1,362 more people are imprisoned each week. What will happen when there’s no room for them?

Last week the government announced that prisoners would be released 70 days early, hoping this would hold off disaster. While we were told that only low-risk prisoners would be subject to early release, on Tuesday that story unravelled when HM Inspector of Prisons published a report on HMP Lewes. The inspectors found that the early release scheme was ‘undermining…safe release planning and risk management’. In one case a ‘high-risk prisoner who was a risk to children had his release date brought forward despite having a history of stalking, domestic abuse and being subject to a restraining order’.

Yesterday in Prime Minister’s Questions, Rishi Sunak defended the government’s early release scheme, claiming ‘no one would be’ considered for early release if they represent a threat to the public and that ‘offenders are subject to the toughest of licensing conditions’.