Ministry of Justice officials are reportedly considering allowing some prisoners to move to home detention curfews after serving one sixth of their sentence, rather than becoming eligible after one fifth. The proposal is part of wider efforts to prevent prisons becoming overcrowded, but it has prompted criticism from opponents who argue the Government should expand prison capacity instead.

Under home detention curfews, eligible prisoners live at home and are electronically monitored, with a 7pm-to-7am curfew; eligibility does not guarantee release. The reported change would accompany a new sentencing model due in October, while the wider early-release scheme could reduce the release threshold for some fixed-term prisoners from 40% to one third of their sentence. The article says exclusions are being considered for people convicted of unlawful-act manslaughter, including two men convicted over PC Andrew Harper’s death, and that around 5,000 prisoners could be released early under the wider changes.