Your support helps us to tell the story
A man freed from prison under the government’s early release scheme is alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman at a train station just hours after he was released.
It is understood Amari Lindon Ward, 31, was released as part of the policy, which aims to ease prison overcrowding, on its first day on Tuesday.
He is alleged to have reoffended in Sittingbourne in Kent on the same day he was released, according to information provided by the Crown Prosecution Service. He was later arrested at an address in south London.
He appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with sexual assault, and is due to appear at Maidstone Crown Court on 10 October. He has been recalled to prison.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The government inherited prisons in crisis and on the brink of collapse. Had that happened, the courts would have been unable to hold trials and the police to make arrests.
“We had no choice but to introduce emergency measures, releasing some prisoners a few weeks or months early, while excluding a number of offences and imposing strict licence conditions.
“While we cannot comment on the details of any single case, those who break their licence conditions or commit further crimes will be punished.”
The policy sees the proportion of sentences which some inmates must serve behind bars temporarily cut from 50 per cent to 40 per cent amid government warnings jails were being pushed to the “point of collapse”.
Around 1,750 prisoners were freed early on Tuesday from jails across England and Wales.
Pictures emerged of an inmate being sprayed with bubbly by friends at the prison gates as they were released while ministers faced accusations that serious career criminals were among those walking free when the policy was launched.
Criminals serving prison sentences of less than four years for violent offences, including manslaughter, are among those eligible to be freed under the scheme.
Despite government efforts to prevent domestic abusers from leaving prison early, the restrictions will not apply to all criminals with a history of such violence as the policy only excludes particular offences such as stalking.
Attackers convicted of other crimes such as threats to kill or actual bodily harm could still qualify for early release.
Rioters involved in this summer’s unrest are also not specifically excluded from early release. They will only stay behind bars for longer if they are serving more than four years for a violent offence.
Terrorists and sex offenders are excluded and will not be freed early.
