Dozens of prisoners convicted of breaching restraining orders were mistakenly released early, the Ministry of Justice confirmed.
Reports say 37 offenders were mistakenly released in recent weeks under a government scheme aimed at reducing overcrowding, suggesting the error was due to incorrect recording of their crimes.
Most have now been returned to prison and police are “urgently” searching for the others, the Ministry of Justice said.
Former prison governor Nick Hardwick said the incident was “extremely traumatic and terrifying for the victim”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program it appeared to be a “policy error rather than an operational error” and that the likely problem was that old legislation criminalizing these men was not seen as a red flag.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed that 32 of those released early have now returned to prison, but five are still being sought.
It also said the issue had been resolved, early release was imminent and that all victims had now been contacted.
Under an early release policy that came into effect earlier this month, some prisoners were released after serving 40 per cent of their sentences instead of 50 per cent – a policy the government said was necessary because the prison system was “broken”.
Offenders jailed for breaching restraining orders should be excluded from early release schemes as part of wider efforts to ensure domestic abusers do not return to the community prematurely.
A Justice Department spokesman said the department was committed to keeping “the most dangerous criminals behind bars.”
A statement continued: “We are working with the police to urgently return to custody the very small number of offenders who were wrongly charged and sentenced under the repealed legislation.
“These convictions remain valid and the offender has been monitored since release and will soon be back behind bars.”
