Met Police Chief Expresses Deep Concern Over Early Release of Violent Offenders

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has voiced significant concern regarding the early release of individuals convicted of domestic abuse and stalking offenses, citing fears for public safety. Speaking on LBC's Nick Ferrari show, Rowley described the situation as "very difficult," particularly with "obsessive" and repeat violent offenders being freed into communities.

Rowley revealed that London's police are currently managing approximately 100 breaches of electronic tag conditions daily, with over 95 percent of these individuals being re-bailed by courts rather than returned to prison. This situation leaves victims feeling unsafe, as exemplified by a caller named Kirsty from Canterbury, whose stalker was set for early release despite a five-year sentence.

The early release scheme, intended to alleviate prison overcrowding in England and Wales, is expected to free over 4,500 inmates, including violent offenders, domestic abusers, and fraudsters, over the next ten months. More than 700 offenders have already been released under these plans.

Ministers have stated that measures, including enhanced electronic tagging, are being implemented to protect the public. Justice Secretary Alex Norris had previously highlighted plans for the "biggest expansion of tagging ever," incorporating GPS tracking to establish movement restriction zones. However, Sir Mark Rowley indicated that the effectiveness of these measures is being undermined by the high number of breaches and the lack of punitive sanctions for offenders.

"The challenge, at the moment, is the number of breaches," Rowley stated. "We are seeing 95 per cent plus of the tagging breaches that we arrest are simply being bailed back into the community on the same conditions, so there is zero sanction." He added that the force is apprehending two to three early release offenders weekly who are either recalled to prison or commit further offenses.

Sir Mark also noted an increase in individuals failing to appear in court, with the Met Police issuing 1,600 arrest warrants per month, a doubling of the previous figure. This trend, he explained, results in "more volatile people being put into communities."

Rowley suggested that past policy misalignments between sentencing and prison capacity have contributed to the current challenges. "This is a very poor approach to long-term policy, where the national approach to sentencing offenders and the national approach to building prisons have been completely different," he said. "So, sentencing policy has not been followed by prison-building policy that's going to match it."

Despite these concerns, Rowley affirmed the Met Police's efforts to enhance their methods for identifying the most dangerous individuals. He agreed with Ferrari's characterization of the issue as a "revolving door," acknowledging the difficulty in preventing the early release of dangerous offenders.