Issue 365  28th September 2024

A man who is accused of committing a sexual offence within hours of being let out of prison under the government's early release scheme was freed in error, the BBC has been told. Amari Ward, 31, was one of 37 prisoners who should not have been eligible for the early release scheme because they had breached restraining orders. When police investigated Ward's case, it emerged he and the others had been convicted under an outdated law, which was not recognised during checks. All but one of those mistakenly released have been located, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed...

The early release scheme was introduced to ease serious overcrowding in prisons, with some inmates let out after they had served 40% of their sentence rather than 50%. The government had said those convicted of offences linked to domestic abuse - including breaching a restraining order - would not be eligible for early release. However, 37 men's crimes had incorrectly been prosecuted under outdated legislation from 1997. That meant the system did not recognise they were ineligible for release. It only looked at offences under the Sentencing Act 2020. The MoJ suggested the issue had been fixed for forthcoming early releases and all victims had now been contacted...

Ministers are looking at plans for Texas-style reforms that would allow prisoners to reduce their jail sentences by earning points. Inmates in Texas can cut down the amount of time spent behind bars by earning credit for good behaviour, as well as earning points for taking part in courses aimed at tackling the root causes of offending. The courses include vocational workshops, education and training, as well as sessions on drug rehabilitation and behavioural change...

Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood is said to be planning a visit to Texas later this year as part of an attempt to mirror their approach to reducing high prison populations, as well as cutting down the rate of reoffending. The Independent understands that it is not yet confirmed policy but Ms Mahmood, alongside prisons minister Lord Timpson, are interested in how the schemes could be implemented in Britain...

A Women’s Justice Board will be established to bring together senior leaders in the criminal justice system, charities and government departments and publish a new strategy in the spring, Shabana Mahmood has confirmed. Female offenders are often vulnerable, with over 60 per cent of women in prison reporting having experienced domestic violence and more than half having experienced abuse as a child.

The creation of the Women’s Justice Board recognises these distinct needs and advocates for a tailored approach to divert women away from custodial sentences. It will meet regularly to discuss and implement ways to intervene earlier before women’s offending becomes serious and better tackle the root causes of their offending. The strategy will also focus on enhancing alternatives to prison, such as community sentences and residential women’s centres. Only around one third of female offenders sentenced to custody have committed a violent offence and prisons are not working to rehabilitate this group, with women serving short custodial sentences significantly more likely to reoffend than those serving community sentences...

Women and girls will be better protected under a new national strategy using advanced data analysis and algorithms to relentlessly target the most dangerous perpetrators of abuse. This initiative is part of an ambitious, unprecedented mission to reduce such violence by 50% within the next decade. It will see police forces use new data-driven tools to focus on the small number of offenders responsible for the highest levels of harm. Working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), and the College of Policing, the Home Secretary will oversee the development of a new national approach to the use of these data-driven tools – which use computer programmes to bring together and analyse a range of police data to identify and pursue offenders involved in domestic abuse, sexual assault, harassment and stalking. These tools, used alongside police officers’ expert judgment, will help law enforcement prioritise and pursue the most dangerous offenders, enabling a more effective allocation of police resources...

In addition, the technology will assist in building risk profiles for both perpetrators and victims, enabling law enforcement and partner agencies to implement robust management plans that disrupt offenders’ behaviour and enhance victim safety. This new approach will standardise the use of predictive technologies across police forces, ensuring those who pose the greatest threat are identified and managed through the criminal justice system or community-based, multi-agency interventions...

The government will bring forward a new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill in this parliamentary session to crack down on fraud in the social security system... The Bill is expected to save £1.6 billion over the next five years and will extend and modernise DWP’s powers to stop fraud in its tracks, recover money lost to fraud and protect vulnerable customers from racking up debt.

Fraud and error in the social security system currently costs the taxpayer almost £10 billion a year and since the pandemic a total of £35 billion of taxpayers’ money has been taken away from those who need it most. The nature of fraud has also become more sophisticated, meaning without new legal powers, DWP cannot properly keep pace with the changing nature of fraud to tackle it robustly enough. This legislation will give DWP powers to:

• Better investigate suspected fraud and new powers of search and seizure so DWP can take greater control investigations into criminal gangs defrauding the taxpayer.
• Allow DWP to recover debts from individuals who can pay money back but have avoided doing so, bringing greater fairness to debt recoveries.
• Require banks and financial institutions to share data that may show indications of potential benefit overpayments

Zombie-style knives and machetes have this week (24 September) been added to the list of prohibited weapons in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 as the government cracks down on dangerous weapons with no legitimate purpose. ‘Zombie-style’ is the street name given to weapons which are over 8 inches in length and often have a serrated edge, spikes or more than 2 sharp points...

This is just one of a package of measures being introduced by the government to halve knife crime in a decade. Earlier this month, the government announced that legislation is underway to ban ninja swords and it has also commissioned the largest ever review into how knives are sold online to identify any gaps in legislation which will prevent these being sold illegally to under-18s. The Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime has also been launched, bringing together campaign groups, families of people who have tragically lost their lives to knife crime, young people who have been impacted and community leaders, united in their mission to save lives and make Britain a safer place for the next generation.

From 24 September, anyone caught with a zombie-style knife or machete could face time behind bars. The ban on zombie-style knives comes at the end of a Home Office run surrender scheme which allowed members of the public to hand in these types of weapons, and those who wished to do so were eligible for compensation. This scheme ended on 23 September and anyone still in possession of these weapons should safely hand them into their local police station or local surrender bin immediately.

... Under the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme, victims can challenge decisions not to charge a suspect or to halt a prosecution. Successful appeals can lead to cases being reopened and may result in a conviction. But the Observer has uncovered details of nine rape and sexual offence cases where the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) offered no evidence shortly before trial, resulting in the case being closed and the defendant acquitted – before the victim could appeal. In some cases, the CPS decision was later revealed to be flawed. One woman who found out her rape case was being closed just days before the trial was told it was because prosecutors had found text messages between her and the accused that undermined the case, when in fact they were from someone else with the same name...

Following a cluster of cases, Dame Vera Baird, the former solicitor general and victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, has written to senior law officers to raise concerns about potential wrongful acquittals – and urged them to intervene. In a letter sent on Friday to the attorney general for England and Wales, Lord Richard Hermer KC, and solicitor general, Sarah Sackman KC, Baird described the current CPS approach as grossly unfair and said it was “undermining a right guaranteed by the statutory Victims’ Code” by offering no evidence, leading to a permanent acquittal, before there had been time for a VRR to be completed...