More than 2,500 prisoners are due to be freed early before Christmas as part of Labour's controversial early release scheme, according to an official Ministry of Justice timetable published this week. The programme, designed to relieve overcrowding in prisons across England and Wales, includes violent offenders and domestic abusers among those released after serving as little as a third of their sentences, prompting criticism from opposition politicians and the victims commissioner over risks to public safety and pressure on the probation service.

Under the schedule, 1,350 prisoners will be released over two days in October, followed by 650 in November and 550 in December, meaning over half of the 4,500 offenders due for release under the scheme will be out before Christmas. Prime Minister Andy Burnham acknowledged bereaved families' "anguish" in the Commons but did not apologise, after a review exempted 1,400 prisoners, including those convicted of manslaughter such as PC Andrew Harper's killers, forcing the MoJ to accelerate the remaining releases. Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy warned the public would "pay the price", while victims commissioner Claire Waxman cautioned the scheme risked creating a "doom-loop" of repeated crises in the justice system.