A DRUG dealer who said ‘I’m a lifelong Labour voter now’, a “good boy’ robber and a notorious burglar have been freed from jail early.
Around 1,700 lags are being let back out on the streets today as part of Labour’s controversial early release scheme.
They include Djaber Benallaoua, 20, who was greeted and hugged by five pals after being let go from HMP Isis at 9.30am.
He was freed from his two-and-a-half-year sentence for drug dealing six months earlier than planned today.
Benallaoua said: “I thank Labour because I’ve come out five or six months early than I was supposed to so I’m just happy.”
“I’m just elated right now. I’m gonna get lit. It’s hectic in Isis. There are fights every day.”
Calvin Foster, 25, described himself as “a good boy” as he was released from a Young Offenders’ Institute.
He said: “It’s jokes you know. My actual release date was tomorrow. It’s only day earlier, but I’ll take it so it’s sweet, isn’t it.
“I didn’t find out I was being released early until I got my papers through a few days ago.
He added: “I’m a good boy now. I’m going to see my girlfriend, see my mates, and just chill and work. I ain’t going back in there (prison).”
Groups of inmates were seen walking out of Brixton, Durham and Liverpool jails today.
Around 400 prisoners are reportedly due to be freed from London prisons alone.
Elsewhere, notorious crime-wave burglar was among lags released early from Holme House prison in Stockton on Tees.
Christopher Hope, 32, was locked up for four and eight months after swiping cars during raids on homes.
He was released from prison more than three months early – having racked up jail terms totalling more than a decade since 2016.
Posing with his thumb up, Hope said: “I’m excited. I can’t wait to see my family. Since they told me three weeks ago I’ve just been counting down the days.
“I’ve been in here a few times. I’m always in here for pinching high-performance cars.
“But that’s it now. I’m not doing it no more. I don’t want to go back in. It’s much worse now. There’s so much spice – it’s ruined the prison system.”
During his crime spree, Hope targeted the Billingham area of Teesside and – during separate burglaries – stole an Audi A4 and a Mini Cooper.
In 2020 Hope was jailed for two years and six months after being caught on CCTV.
He was caged for four years in 2018 for a one-night crime wave which included targeting homes in Eaglescliffe while carrying a hammer and knife.
Marke Burke praised rioters who “did us a favour” by filling prison spaces after scenes of violence broke out across the country last month.
The dad-of-one, from Dublin, said: “It’s a great idea. Some people who were supposed to be out next year are out today.
“All the rioters, I think they’re going to put them in here. They’ve done us a favour. When we found out it was all good, all partying.”
VICTIMS have been left in the dark and not told that their perpetrators are being let out of prison as part of the Government’s early release scheme.
As an estimated 1,700 prisoners are being let free, charities and government advisors have warned that victims, many of which are women and girls, will pay the price for failures in the justice system.
In an effort to free up space in overcrowded jails, many inmates will now only have to serve 40 per cent of their sentences behind bars, down from the usual 50 per cent.
Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove said the early releases are “distressing for many victims who rightfully expect offenders will serve the sentence handed down by the court”.
Baroness Newlove said: “From the beginning, I sought assurances that all impacted victims would be informed of any early release dates, affording them the opportunity to request protective measures.
“I understand this has not been possible in every case, leaving some victims unaware of their offender’s early release. While I recognise the challenges in reaching certain groups of victims, this is regrettable and must be addressed.
“As Victims’ Commissioner, I am concerned about the impact of these early releases on victims’ confidence in our justice system. It is essential that transparency and rigorous oversight guide our approach. Victim safety must remain the absolute priority.
“We now owe it to victims to ensure we swiftly steer our justice system towards more sustainable footing.”
Isabelle Younane, head of external affairs at Women’s Aid, said: “We recognise that overcrowding is a serious issue that the Government needs to take urgent action to address, however, Women’s Aid is concerned that the policy is coming at the price of safety for women and children.”
She added: “The early release of perpetrators will have a detrimental impact on both the physical safety and mental wellbeing of survivors, who have been able to live in safety and begun to rebuild their lives free from fear while their abuser was in prison.
“The early release scheme relies heavily on an already overstretched and struggling probation service, and we fear that the release of such high volumes of prisoners at once will push them to breaking point.”
The scheme comes despite concerns over reoffending with offenders being let out having served less than half of their sentences in a bid to free up space behind bars.
Downing Street has said the policy had to be brought in to avoid “unchecked criminality” where police and courts are unable to lock anyone up because there are no free cells.
Asked if Sir Keir Starmer was “comfortable” with scenes of freed lags celebrating outside jail this morning, his spokeswoman said: “No, absolutely not. The situation is completely unacceptable.
“It is, however, the right thing to do to ensure that we did not face a situation where criminality would be left unchecked on our streets because we didn’t have enough prison places.
“So this was a difficult decision that it was the right thing to do to protect public safety.”
Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor also said the Government “had no choice but to do something” about overcrowding because “the bath was in danger of overflowing.
But he warned it was “inevitable that some of these prisoners will get recalled to custody”.
He also said some lags will be homeless on release – increasing the risk that they could go on to commit more crimes.
Mr Taylor added: “It’s inevitable that some of these prisoners will get recalled to custody and it’s inevitable that some of them will go out homeless.
“If people are coming out, they’re not properly prepared, and they’re homeless, then what we’ll see is the danger that they’ll commit more offences, or that they breach their bail conditions, in which case they’ll end up back inside again.”
Convicts are being housed in hotels rather than bail hostels, the Justice Secretary said today.
Shabana Mahmood told the Commons that inmates who are homeless on release could be temporarily placed in taxpayer-funded budget hotels if there is not enough space in bail hostels and other community accommodation.
Meanwhile, Tory MP Neil O’Brien slammed the decision to house “dangerous” criminals in hotels paid for by the taxpayer.
He told The Sun: “The release of these dangerous people is already becoming chaotic with a party atmosphere outside jails and dangerous people being stuck in hotels on the taxpayer expense.
“This whole disastrous unnecessary policy will end in disaster for law abiding people.
“The Prison’s Minister has said only a third of prisoners should be in jail so it is sadly unsurprising that Labour have chosen to let dangerous people out of jail rather than deal with the 10,000 foreign prisoners clogging up our prisons or the 16,000 people on remand – a problem they are making worse by cutting court sitting days.”
His comments come as one newly-freed prisoner celebrated his early release by stopping at a nearby McDonald’s drive-thru minutes later.
Holme House, a men’s training and resettlement prison, has an operational capacity for 1,179 prisoners.
But Government data as of July revealed there were just 38 spare beds.
Released from a two-year sentence for violence, the man, carrying two hold-alls of prison possessions, said: “It’s chock-a-block in there.”
But Stephen Quinn, who was jailed for commercial burglary, claims it is only a matter of time before he’s behind bars again.
Speaking as he was released halfway through his two-year sentence, Quinn said: “Yes, I’ll return to a life of crime, because I’ve not been taught nothing. I’ve just been in the care system all my life.”
Rioters are among those who could end up spending less time behind bars, No.10 confirmed last month.
But prisoners convicted of serious violence and serving sentences of are not be eligible.
Meanwhile, charities say the early release scheme will only “buy a little time” and would not provide a lasting solution.
Hundreds more prisoners are due to be freed early next month in the second stage of the scheme.
But Labour is under pressure to find longer-term solutions to the problem, with prison figures warning that without further measures the same problem could be faced in about a year’s time.
