PROBATION staff say they will be overwhelmed by the early release scheme of prisoners which starts from tomorrow.
Officers have had as little as a week’s notice — instead of three months — to prepare to monitor and rehabilitate serious offenders.
Leaked internal briefing documents, seen by The Sun, reveal staff have been told that some of the usual checks done prior to release can be done up to eight weeks after an inmate is let out — giving ex-cons ample time to commit more crimes.
Unions also warn probation staff still do not know the names of offenders they are supposed to manage, with caseworkers already dealing with up to 70 crooks each.
Insiders reckon many lags will end up being recalled.
A source said: “This is a risky move . . . probation staff are being asked to fly blind.
“It is inevitable many will go back to offending and we can only do our best to minimise any harm to the public.”
About 2,000 lags are set be let out tomorrow after serving just 40 per cent of their sentence instead of half — 250-300 in London alone.
Helpers from offender support charity Catch 22, which works with the probation service, will be at bus and rail stations near prisons to assist them.
Around 5,500 prisoners will be released by October 22.
One probation officer in London revealed: “In the last few days handovers for cases classed as very high risk have begun, but all other cases have not been dealt with.
“At this late stage it is not possible to complete all the handover activity safely.”
Changes to the law mean that if any prisoner on a standard determinate sentence is held for a day longer than 40 per cent of their term, their jail could face a legal claim for unlawful detention.
Large numbers of lags who have already reached this point have had to stay inside until the official start date — hence tomorrow’s mass release.
Terrorists, domestic abusers, sexual and serious violent offenders do not qualify for the scheme.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has warned the prison system faced collapse with figures last week showing a record 88,521 people are behind bars.
At the end of last month there were less than 100 spaces left in male prisons.
The guidance on pre-release risk assessments was delivered to staff in August.
In some cases, our members were told on Tuesday, a week before the early release date, that serious offenders would be released in their area
Tania Bassett
It states that community offender managers are “not required to undertake” handovers with prison colleagues for early release cases until two months after the planned releases.
The changes only apply to cases which fall under the new scheme called SDS40.
Other offenders will be managed as usual.
Documents shared with The Sun also show “it is not expected for standard pre-release work to be completed”.
The briefing stated that around 350 releases had been anticipated in London tomorrow.
Tania Bassett, of probation officers’ union Napo, said: “In some cases, our members were told on Tuesday, a week before the early release date, that serious offenders would be released in their area.”
She said the number of recalls is expected to rise because of the pressure placed on officers.
It was previously revealed that ten of the 12 probation regions in England and Wales are underperforming — having been rated either “inadequate” or “requires improvements” in key areas such as helping offenders into work.
The Ministry of Justice said: “The Lord Chancellor announced in July she was scrapping the previous government’s early release scheme, replacing it with a system which gives probation staff more time to prepare for a release.
“The Government has also set out plans to recruit over 1,000 new trainee probation officers by March 2025 to meet demand.”
By Joe Hadden
SOME of Britain’s worst criminals were released from prison only to reoffend.
Jordan McSweeney, 31, had been free for nine days in 2022 when he sexually assaulted and murdered 35-year-old law graduate Zara Aleena.
He had already served nine terms for crimes including burglary and theft.
Zara’s aunt Faraz Nah said: “She would be alive if probation did their jobs better.”
Thief Joseph McCann raped 11 women and children — two months after his release.
Freed terror plotter Usman Khan killed two people in the London Bridge knife attack in 2019.
