38,000 prisoners given early release

NEARLY 40,000 prisoners in England and Wales have been let out of jail under the Government's early release scheme to tackle overcrowding in prisons, new figures show.

- PRESS ASSOCIATION REPORTERS

A total of 38,042 inmates had been freed as of the end of June this year, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The scheme was launched as an emergency measure on September 10 last year, just days after the prison population reached a record high of 88,521. It allows eligible prisoners to be released after serving only 40% of their fixed-term sentence, rather than the usual 50%.

It comes as part of efforts to curb overcrowding in jails. Officials warned in May that male prisons were on track to hit zero capacity by November this year.

A total of 10,879 of the 38,042 early releases (28.6%) were serving sentences of six months or under, with a further 5,241 (13.8%) serving sentences of between six and 12 months.