An abuse survivor has handed over a petition and letter to No 10 calling on Andy Burnham to make sure sex offenders are not released from prison early.
Jade Belgrove, 30, waived her lifelong anonymity and launched a campaign after she received a letter in June telling her that the man who raped and groomed her when she was 14 years old could be out of prison two years early under the government’s early release plans.
Ms Belgrove was accompanied by fellow campaigners as she arrived at 10 Downing Street and delivered a letter and petition signed by more than 100,000 people calling on the prime minister to rethink provisions within the Sentencing Act 2026 that could result in rapists, paedophiles and domestic abusers being released from prison early.
Mr Burnham’s government was forced to pause the early release plan last week after outrage over the news that two of PC Andrew Harper’s killers could be released early under the scheme.
The scheme, which was set to release around 6,000 offenders as early as September after serving a third of their sentence rather than half, had initially intended to ease overcrowding after claims that the government inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse at 99 per cent capacity with at one point fewer than 100 places left.
Survivors were told via the victim contact scheme that they would find out by the end of August whether or not their perpetrators would be released as early as September.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for an emergency change in the law to stop the early release of serious offenders on Monday. She said the party would help Labour to revoke its programme of early release.
At a press conference, Mrs Badenoch said: “It’s quite clear that the prime minister sees that this is a problem, but I don’t think he knows what to do about it. We have done the work. We know that we need to revoke the commencement order immediately – he could do that today. That would show that he is really pausing it.
“And then he needs to bring in emergency legislation by 2 September. This can be done – we heard the government talk about bringing in emergency legislation for a bank holiday if we won the World Cup. They can do this and we will be here to help them facilitate that.”
The Independent has seen a letter sent by Ms Belgrove on behalf of thousands of survivors where she urges the prime minister to “reconsider these measures before they cause lasting damage to public confidence in our justice system and undermine the safety of victims, survivors and communities across the country.
“I was just 14 years old when I was groomed, raped and sexually assaulted. The impact of those crimes did not end when the abuse stopped. It affected my mental health, my relationships, my family and my sense of safety. Like so many survivors, I have spent years rebuilding my life.”
Ms Belgrove’s letter insists it is a matter of public safety, as well as justice for victims, that sex offenders and domestic abusers are not part of the scheme.
“When survivors lose confidence in the system, reporting can decline, cooperation with investigations can weaken and trust in institutions can be eroded.”
She added: “Victims and survivors should not be asked to accept increased risk or diminished confidence in the justice system because there are insufficient prison places.”
Prime minister Andy Burnham said: “Keeping the public safe will always be my top priority. I am working closely with the new Justice Secretary and have instructed my team to put a pause on the changes that were due to start in September.
“No prisoners will be let out under this policy until we have conducted an urgent review and done everything we can to minimise risk to the public. Where changes are needed, we will not hesitate to make them.”
