'Jail was a holiday camp': Early-release prisoners forced onto Britain’s streets as justice system fails to prepare them for life outside
Former prisoners have said that they are often left with no choice but to reoffend for the sake of a roof over their head and a warm meal
Durham is a small medieval city, home to around 50,000 people, its cobbled streets filled with students from the prestigious university.
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But behind the postcard image, businesses and charities are seeing the direct impact of a growing problem linked to the Government’s early prison release scheme - namely homelessness and post-release reoffending.
Despite its modest size, Durham has three prisons within three and a half miles of the city centre - and charities say growing numbers of inmates are leaving custody with nowhere to live.
Former prisoners have said that they are often left with no choice but to reoffend - for the sake of a roof over their head and a warm meal.
LBC has been told that offenders find prison to be a “walk in the park” or a “holiday camp".
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When living on the streets, ex-cons have told LBC it’s nearly impossible not to fall back into a life of crime, shoplifting to get by, and using drink or drugs to fall asleep at night over the bitter North East winter.
Two former prisoners, who asked not to be named, told LBC that the choice between reoffending and sleeping rough can sometimes feel inevitable.
Andy, not his real name, is in his mid-20s and served time for burglary in the North East.
“People would rather be inside than out here worrying about paying gas and electric,” he said.
“When you’ve got no roof over your head, it doesn’t feel like a choice at all.”
Another former inmate said prison no longer feels like a deterrent.
“People are coming out thinking jail wasn’t hard - that it was a holiday camp,” he said.
“You’ve got a TV, a kettle, your own phone. For some, it’s easier than life on the outside. So when they’re released homeless, they commit another offence just to get a roof over their head.”
The men say the system is failing at both ends - too soft inside, but with too little support once prisoners are released.
They argue that tougher prison regimes and better preparation for release are needed to break the cycle.
In Durham, some traders say the consequences of the overstretched prison system are becoming increasingly visible.
Jo Soulsby, who runs Moon Jewellery in the city centre, says last summer was “particularly bad”, with former inmates who are now on the streets regularly bedding down in shop doorways.
“We had someone on the doorstep pretty much every day,” she said.
On one occasion, a man linked to the Government’s early release scheme was arrested outside her shop - and police later found he was carrying a knife.
She says the situation has begun to affect footfall.
“We’ve seen people look down the street and then turn back towards the market place, where I guess they feel safer,” she said.
“There’s definitely more shoplifting - grab-and-run incidents. We don’t judge what people are going through, but from a shop owner’s perspective, especially as a woman working alone, it’s not a nice thing to deal with.”
Charities warn the problem has “exploded” since the early release scheme began in autumn 2024.
Under the scheme, eligible prisoners can be released after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, with the hope they would rebuild their lives in the community.
The policy was introduced to relieve pressure on an overcrowded prison system, where the number of inmates had outstripped capacity to house them.
But despite Justice Secretary David Lammy’s pledge to overhaul the justice system, more than 1,000 people a month are now leaving prison homeless, an increase of 82 per cent since 2024.
Nicky Morson, from homelessness charity Cornerstone, which supports people across County Durham and Hartlepool, thinks that locally, the majority of prisoners leave jail without an address to go to.
“We’re finding individuals are released with complex issues and released homeless,” she said.
“Inside prison they may get housing advice, but when they come out there simply aren’t enough properties. It’s like sending a plumber to fix a job without the tools.”
The Prison and Probation Service told LBC that 84 per cent of prisoners released in the year to March 2025 have an address to go to.
Matt Vickers, the Shadow Minister for Crime and Policing, thinks that the early release policy has been a “disaster”:
“Anybody with an inch of common sense knows it’s going to create problems with more criminals out on the streets early,” he said.
“The deterrence attached to those sentences has been weakened at the same time as we’ve seen huge reductions in the number of police on our streets.
“When people commit crimes, they need to know they’ll be locked up for as long as the sentence says - and in conditions that make them not want to come back.”
Durham County Council says it works closely with probation services and landlords to support people leaving custody, and says it is ranked third nationally for its prisoner housing program.
But councillor Nicola Lyons, cabinet member for communities and civic resilience, admits that demand far outweighs supply.
More than 11,000 people are currently on the county’s social housing waiting list.
“[Newly released prisoners] are among the most vulnerable people and we’ve got a duty of care,” she said.
“But there needs to be something better and more sustainable from the national government.”
A HMPPS spokesperson said: “Our figures show that in the year to March 2025, 84% of all prisoners were released with an address to go to.
“We work with councils and charities to support prison leavers at risk of homelessness, including offering up to 12 weeks of accommodation on release and help into employment.”