Foreign prisoners to be freed early in Government bid to cut prison overcrowding

Immigrants guilty of crimes such as burglary and mugging will be released nine months early because there is no room in jail, it was announced today.

The foreign nationals will be sent home 270 days before their sentences reach even the halfway point.

Once they arrive back in their homeland, they will be free - dramatically reducing the length of their supposed punishment.

The only sacrifice the villains will be expected to make is to promise not to return to the UK until the 270 days are up.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert said: "Instead of managing prisons with false promises and a series of emergency measures, we need a whole new approach that puts public safety first and breaks the cycle of re-offending."

At present, foreign prisoners sentenced to four years or less can be deported 135 days before reaching the halfway point.

But, with prisons in the grip of a full-blown overcrowding crisis, Justice Minister David Hanson yesterday said the period was being doubled.

However, the impact of the desperate policy will not be felt until June - and is expected to only reduce the record 82,000 prison population by 2-300 in the short-term.

It means more panic measures are likely in coming weeks, as governors prepare to declare the prison estate full. There are only around 100 spaces remaining.

An anouncement could be made as early as next week that early release for British criminals - known as End of Custody Licence - is being extended.

Since last June, around 15,000 have been released 18 days before their sentence reached the halfway point to try and bring prison numbers down.

But the total population has continued to rise. The 18 days is now likely to be extended, possibly to 30 days or more.

Downing Street - fearful of a voter backlash - is resisiting the move, and wants all other options to be exhausted first. But, with figures released today (fri) expected to show the prison population at another record level, Ministers have little choice but to act.

Last week, the prison population hit another record high of 81,918, with police cells in regular use to handle overspill. The total includes 11,310 foreign national inmates.

Liberal Democrat spokesman David Heath said: "This Government's mismanagement of our penal system has led to record levels of overcrowding and forced desperate ministers to take ever more drastic measures to reduce prison numbers.

"Originally, foreign criminals were expected to serve half their sentences in prison before being deported. Thanks to the overcrowding crisis they will now be released nine months early.

"Punishments must fit the crime and not be based on prison capacity."

Earlier this week, Justice Secretary Jack Straw was handed an extra £55m of taxpayer's cash to deal with the crisis.

The fund will pay for emergency spaces in police cells, the frantic building of an extra 500 jail places and - most controversially - state handouts of £170 each to criminals who are being freed early.

Some £5m of the pot, approved by the Treasury last night, will be used to cover the living costs of the thousands of inmates being released up to 18 days early.

Of the remaining £50m, a total of £35m will go on keeping inmates in police stations at a cost of around £400 a night.

The remaining £15m will go on emergency prison places.