Man allowed to leave prison under Labour's early release scheme charged with murder

A convicted criminal let out from prison under Labour's early release scheme has been charged with murder.

The man was allegedly charged over an incident in London following his early release from jail for knife offences.

Ministry of Justice figures published on Thursday revealed a staggering 38,042 benefited from Keir Starmer's early release scheme between September 2024 and June 2025.

This includes 346 criminals jailed for more than 14 years and 1,403 locked up for between seven to 10 years.

They are amongst almost 6,200 sentenced to more than four years behind bars let out early.

And the early release scheme has been linked to a "historically high" level of recalls after offenders breached their conditions.

Ministry of Justice data published on Thursday shows there were 11,041 recalls to custody in April to June 2025 of offenders who had breached the conditions of their release, up 13% on the equivalent period in 2024 (9,782) and a jump of 62% on the same period in 2023 (6,814).

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: "Since taking office Labour have let out 38,000 prisoners early, many of whom are hardened offenders who simply cannot be rehabilitated. It's putting the British people at risk every day.

"It doesn't have to be like this.

"The answer is to deport the record number of foreign nationals clogging up our jails and get the courts sitting round the clock to reduce the number of people in prison on remand. But under Keir Starmer, those problems have only got worse."

Responding to reports that a man freed under Labour's early release scheme is charged with murder, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller MP said: "Over the last few weeks, the MoJ has gone from one scandal to another, putting people across the country in danger. They must get a grip before more lives are lost.

"The Conservatives plunged our prisons into crisis, but Labour has been burying its head in the sand. Our local communities deserve to trust that they will be protected by the criminal justice system.

"Now more than ever, it's clear we need a sustainable solution to the prisons' overcrowding crisis - one that is focused on tackling reoffending and cutting the courts backlog to reduce the number of people in prison on remand, not just releasing dangerous people onto our streets."