Early-release prisoners 'desperate', warns charity

A homeless charity said it faced a night of "chaos" after seeing an influx of people released early from prison as part of the government's efforts to ease overcrowding.

Becky Joyce, director and co-founder of Homeless Street Angels in Leeds, said some of those leaving prison had "come out to nothing" and had told her they were considering re-offending to avoid homelessness.

Around 700 people left prisons across England and Wales under the early prisoner release plan on Thursday.

The government said prisons, probation and councils work together before prisoners are released to assess housing need and that prisoners at risk of becoming homeless could be offered up to 12 weeks of basic accommodation.

Joyce said during the charity's regular outreach work in Leeds city centre on Thursday evening they had seen many different faces.

"Last night was absolute chaos on the streets - we had many early prison release clients that had been released with nowhere to go," she said.

"We had a guy last night who was laying on a bench, obviously quite vulnerable, quite young, just released from prison and I think he had about £80, released with no food, no clothes, no nothing.

"He was taken advantage of as soon as he left. A group of guys got him to buy some spice and he tried smoking it with them and he was very poorly and he was just laying on the bench sobbing his heart out because he just didn't know what to do anymore."

She said some people they met said they were considering committing crimes to go back into prison.

"It's heartbreaking because they're desperate. They don't know the answer and we don't know the answer," she said.

"The reason of going to prison is so you can learn from your mistakes, rebuild your life and start afresh. But there's nothing there for you to start afresh.

"There's no support, no network, and the only option to have a safe space is to do what you did in the first place, to get yourself back in prison."

Those freed on Thursday had been serving sentences of up to 19 months but were released after completing 33% rather than 50% of their term.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said it was investing in rough sleeping, which has more than doubled since 2010, and prisons were on "the brink of collapse".

"We're pulling every lever to fix this, building 14,000 new prison places and working with councils and charities to halve prison-leaver homelessness by 2029, supported by a record £700m investment in probation and community services," they said.

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