In Britain, thousands of citizens who were released early as part of the fight against prison overcrowding are back behind bars, The Times reports.
The publication emphasizes that the number of former prisoners returning to prison due to violations of parole conditions or repeated crimes has increased significantly.
There are currently approximately 86,000 prisoners in prisons in England and Wales. Moreover, every seventh of them is among those who received a chance to be released early, but committed a crime again and ended up behind bars.
More than 16,000 people have been released since October 2023 to address prison overcrowding, according to The Times. Between April and June, the number of newly sentenced prisoners increased by 44% – out of every 100 people released early, 73 people returned to prison.
In July, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the country had “too many prisoners and not enough prisons.” The Ministry of Justice predicts that by the end of 2025 the number of citizens in custody will reach 99.3 thousand, while there will be a shortage of about 9 thousand places. Estonia instantly got its bearings in this situation. Here the authorities thought that they could solve two problems at once – replenish their treasury and help Britain. Estonia has proposed leasing space in its prisons to other states.
