UK justice secretary says figures unavailable on tagging of early-release prisoners

UK Justice Secretary Alex Norris has said it is too early to provide figures on how many prisoners released early from jails in England and Wales have been fitted with electronic monitoring devices. About 700 male prisoners were released on Thursday in the first stage of a programme intended to reduce severe prison overcrowding. Nearly 5,000 prisoners are expected to be freed in stages over the next year as the Sentencing Act 2026 takes effect.

The government has introduced a presumption that offenders released early will be electronically tagged. Asked by the BBC how many of those released had received monitoring devices, Norris said the information was not yet available because the first releases had taken place only on Thursday. He also could not say whether released domestic abusers had been tagged.

Norris said authorities had spoken to victims and offered them the opportunity to identify controls they wanted applied to the individuals concerned. He said performance in tagging had improved significantly over the previous year. Several prisoners released during the first wave told The Guardian they had not been tagged.

Michael Bogle, a former bus driver released from HMP Wandsworth after serving 78 days for breaching a suspended sentence, said he did not know when he would receive a tag. Bogle, who was described as having more than 100 convictions, said he had been told he would be housed in a bail hostel but was instead placed in a bed-and-breakfast facility. He also said he was running out of money and feared returning to shoplifting.

Ministers excluded rapists and the most serious child-sex offenders from the early-release arrangements after criticism of the policy. The rules also exclude people convicted of manslaughter, including those responsible for the death of police officer Andrew Harper.