Scheme would have applied to prisoners who had already served a third of sentencepublished at 15:10 BST
Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent
The pausing of the early release scheme comes after thousands of letters were sent to victims in recent weeks, warning them it was coming in – but those letters did not spell out when particular offenders could get out, triggering alarm and uncertainty.
Under the scheme, to help manage the prisons overcrowding crisis, most offenders on fixed terms would benefit from getting out of jail after serving a third of their sentence, rather than a half.
The rest would be spent in the community, where they would be monitored, and if they stepped out of line they could be returned to jail.
From 2 September offenders serving up to 19 months would get out earlier.
Two of the killers of PC Andrew Harper, who got 13 years a piece, would have benefited from the scheme from June 2027, when the longest fixed sentences would have been added to the scheme.
All of this is now in doubt. Ministers have the power to revise this timetable – but any more fundamental change would require a vote by MPs in Parliament.
