Some prisoners released early without being electronically tagged

Some prisoners released early as part of efforts to ease the overcrowding crisis in England and Wales have not been fitted with electronic tags.

Around 1,700 prisoners were released early from their sentences last week, but there have been delays in fitting some offenders with the tracking device, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said.

Some convicted killers were among those released, although the scheme does not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences.

Prisons and probation minister Lord Timpson is due to have a meeting with security company Serco, which took over the MoJ's tagging contract in May, on Thursday.

An MoJ spokesman said: "Tagging is an important part of our strategy to keep victims safe and cut reoffending, and there are currently record numbers of offenders wearing tags.

"We are holding Serco to account to address delays in fitting some offenders with tags, and will apply financial penalties against the company if this is not resolved quickly.

"While this issue is ongoing, we have prioritised tagging domestic abuse offenders to make sure their licence conditions, such as staying away from their victims, are strictly followed."

A Serco spokesperson said: "Since we took over the electronic monitoring contract in May we have been working hard to reduce the number of people waiting to have a tag fitted.

"We work closely with the MoJ and the probation service to fit tags swiftly and prioritise cases based on risk profiles.

"Where an individual is not at home when we call to fit a tag the time taken can be longer. We prioritise making another visit so that people are tagged as soon as possible."

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The early release of some prisoners came after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans in July to temporarily cut the proportion of sentences which inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%.

Hundreds more prisoners are due to be freed early next month in the second stage of the scheme.

The government said the measures were necessary as overcrowding had pushed jails to the "point of collapse".

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