Shocking number of prisoners let out early in time for Christmas revealed | Politics | News

Thousands of convicted criminals spent Christmas at home after taking advantage of Labour’s early release scheme, figures show.

Between January and June, approximately 8,269 criminals serving sentences of at least two years were released.

This includes 139 offenders sentenced to more than 14 years in prison and 329 offenders sentenced to between 10 and 14 years.

According to figures, 1,761 people who had been in prison for more than five years were also released earlier this year.

The Conservative Party declared that “if these people had served their full sentences, they would still be in custody at Christmas 2025.”

Instead, they were “prowling our streets” despite fears of an epidemic of shoplifting and the growing tendency of criminals to help themselves to “whatever they wanted”.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Thousands of criminals will have fun this Christmas, thanks to Labor. More than 8,000 prisoners serving prison sentences will be walking our streets this Christmas.

“Calamity Lammy and Labor are managing record levels of theft and robberies targeting businesses. Essential products such as butter and chocolate are now security-labeled.”

“While families work hard to afford gifts in the face of Labour’s tax increases, criminals are allowed to riot in the streets and help themselves to whatever they want.”

Shoplifting has risen to record levels; 530,000 crimes recorded in the year to June 2025; This was an increase of 13 percent compared to the previous year. Robberies targeting businesses also increased sharply, reaching 18,534 crimes; There was an increase of 55 percent in the same period.

Home Office figures show 824 burglary investigations were closed every day last year before a suspect was even identified.

Before the thief was found, approximately 300,820 cases were shelved and 90,937 investigations were shelved due to lack of evidence.

By June 2025, only 107,090 cases of shoplifting have been prosecuted. More than 50,000 people have refused to support the prosecution of shoplifters, demonstrating the crisis of confidence plaguing the criminal justice system.

Almost 40,000 prisoners were released early under Labour’s early release plan.

Approximately 4,358 people were released by early June 2025; this is the second highest figure since the scheme was established.

More than 25,000 people benefited from “parole”, while approximately 11,000 people were allowed to stay at home due to the curfew.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp MP said: “It’s not the Grinch who’s destroying the high street this Christmas, it’s a crime. Shoplifters, gangs and repeat offenders are being given an early gift by Labor while shop workers and their families pay the price.”

“When criminals know they won’t be caught, charged and face consequences, crime ceases to be risky and becomes routine. This is why burglary has increased and city centers feel less safe since Labor took office.”

“The next Conservative Government will return officers to the highest crime streets, recruit 10,000 new officers, introduce triple stop and search and deliver 8.3 million extra patrol hours each year. All of this will be funded by our £800 million a year and finally focus again on keeping the public safe.”

Police chiefs have demanded retailers do more to help them fight thieves.

An incident in which private security personnel would text shoplifters or street robbers to let them know the situation was “clear” and that they were “assisting them to commit a crime”, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said.

He said some shops refused to pass CCTV video or images of thieves to the police, while others would refuse to allow their employees to give witness statements to police or go to court to give evidence.

Sir Mark said some retailers had been “very supportive”.

“They might give them time to testify and they’ll pay them time to go to court. Others won’t do any of that,” he added.

“So if they’re not ready to roll up their sleeves as corporate victims, it’s going to be hard for us to make progress.”

Justice sources insisted some would have been released before Christmas anyway, under previous rules that only allowed criminals out after serving 50% of their sentences.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said:“This completely ignores the dire prison crisis that the Government has inherited – without decisive action we would have run out of prison space long before last Christmas, putting victims and the public at untold risk.