Thousands of criminals could be released early under government sentencing reform, Tories say

The Conservatives say more than 2,000 prisoners serving sentences for rape, stalking and grooming will have their jail time cut because of the government's new sentencing plan.

The opposition party has tabled an amendment to the sentencing bill - which is in the House of Commons for the second reading on Tuesday - to make sure offenders of the most serious crimes stay locked up for longer.

Shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan has called the government's plan "a betrayal of victims", while Labour have accused the Tories of "rank hypocrisy" after they left prisons "at breaking point".

The sentencing review recommends releasing some offenders earlier from prison if they have behaved well.

The review set up to look at alternative punishments to jail after prisons became dangerously overcrowded.

It recommends offenders on a fixed length prison term could be released after serving a third of their sentence, providing they behave well.

Under this "earned progression scheme", prisoners released early will be monitored with enhanced supervision in the community, followed by a period on licence, which is unsupervised.

The Conservatives have said in addition to more than 2,000 serious offenders having their jail terms cut, Labour's changes will also benefit over 62% of jailed rapists.

"Keir Starmer is putting criminals before communities and letting predators out early," Mullan said.

"Under Labour's plans, thousands of the most serious would no longer be treated as such, an insult to thousands of victims across the country."

The amendment tabled by the Tories wants to ensure offenders of the most serious crimes - including rape, sexual offences against children and grievous bodily harm - will not benefit from the government's early release scheme, a press release said.

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But sentencing minster Jake Richards accused the Conservatives of "feigned outrage" and said the government is "cleaning up the mess" left by the Tories.

"The Conservatives' rank hypocrisy is shameful. They built this crisis, then feigned outrage when the consequences arrived," he said.

"They took our prisons to breaking point, released thousands of serious offenders early and pushed Britain to the brink of a situation where police could no longer make arrests and courts could no longer prosecute."

Labour have said the worst offenders - those on extended fixed sentences or life sentences - will never benefit from early release.

President of the Prison Governors' Association Tom Wheatley said successive governments have failed to deliver the prison spaces needed to deal with dangerous overcrowding.

"The sentencing bill seeks to address this issue by reducing the amount of time offenders will spend in custody," he said.

"The alternatives are either spending more taxpayers money on building and running prisons or to continue to release prisoners earlier than the courts intended, as both this government and previous Conservative governments have done."

Other amendments to the sentencing bill proposed by the Tories include requiring courts to collect and publish detailed data on sentencing, making judges' remarks available to the public within two days, and extending the time victims have to challenge lenient sentences.