Prisons boss speaks out as 1,700 UK prisoners released early today

A prison boss has said they had 'no choice but to do something' as 1,7000 prisoners are released early today in a bid to cut overcrowding.

Around 1,700 prisoners in England and Wales are expected to be let go, on top of the 1,000 prisoners that are normally freed each week. The government say the policy was brought in to prevent “unchecked criminality” where the police and courts are unable to lock anyone up because there were no places available.

Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said that the Government “had no choice but to do something” about overcrowding because “the bath was in danger of overflowing, and they either had to turn the taps off or they had to let some water out”.

READ MORE: Why 1,700 criminals are being released amid overcrowding crisis in UK prisons

But he also warned some of those released would be homeless which could increase their chances of reoffending. Mr Taylor said: “It’s inevitable that some of these prisoners will get recalled to custody and it’s inevitable that some of them will go out homeless.

“If people are coming out, they’re not properly prepared, and they’re homeless, then what we’ll see is the danger that they’ll commit more offences, or that they breach their bail conditions, in which case they’ll end up back inside again.”

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, he also said the issue of prison overcrowding is harming prisoners’ prospects of rehabilitation.

He said: “Prisoners are locked in their cells for long periods of time, relationships with prison officers are often transactional and most importantly of all they’re not getting involved in the sort of purposeful activity, the education, the work, the training, that is going to make them less likely to reoffend when they