Government 'downgrades the status of victims' as thousands of 'most dangerous offenders' to get early release
The move, aimed at easing prison overcrowding, has been criticised by a solicitor for not protecting women and girls
The government isn't doing enough to protect women and children, as plans could see the release of thousands of the "most dangerous" criminals, in what a solicitor has called a "downgrade in the status of victims".
Listen to this article
Justice Secretary David Lammy has proposed the early release of prisoners from September, according to reports, as part of a scheme to free up prison space.
The reforms are facing public backlash, with even those jailed for more than a decade set to be released after a third of their sentence, according to the plans.
David Greenwood, a solicitor at Switalskis and who played a pivotal role in the Rotherham abuse scandal, told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that victims will suffer because of the proposals.
Rape and sexual assault cause "untold damage" to the victims, he said, and there is a ripple effect that impacts their loved ones too.
Read more: Asylum seekers to be moved onto more barracks as Labour ramps up attempts to close migrant hotels
Read more: Mahmood asks Starmer to sack immigration minister as article row engulfs Home Office
Mr Greenwood told LBC: "Absolutely not enough is being done for the victims. There's a lot of political talk around this, but these are the most dangerous offenders in society.
"I work with rape victims every day, and they find it hard in the first place to come forward to the police, find it hard to get through the system to even eventually get a court hearing and to eventually get a conviction.
"So to see that the government is even considering allowing these very dangerous offenders out early seems to me like a downgrade in the status of victims when we should be looking after them.
"We should be punishing the people who cause untold damage to our society."
The changes to the early-release scheme will see prisoners jailed for a total of 15 years for manslaughter released after 7.5 years rather than 10, under current protocols.
The release is provided if the individual is seen to have behaved well, with no recent breaches of law or prison regulations during their time behind bars.
The justice minister Jake Richards told LBC: "We have no places left".
However, Mr Greenwood is urging them to think of the impact this could have on victims who could run into their abuser on the street.
Or, even the constant fear that they could bump into them.
He added that no government has been "serious" about protecting women and children.
He said: "I speak to women that I represent every day, and they are full of anguish, full of fear that these people are going to get out of prison fairly soon, and they don't want to bump into them.
"It really destroys lives to think that these people, firstly, are likely to get away with it in our current system, and secondly, to think that the penalty is just not enough.
"I really seriously worry about where the country is going.
"Are we going to protect our children? Are we going to protect our women? It doesn't seem to me as though any government has been serious about this.
"We need to lock people up for a blooming long time, if you ask me."
According to the Telegraph, the first 700 offenders are set to be freed in September.
The staggered release will see a similar number of releases over the space of nine months until the new systems gets up and running.