New questions over early release of offenders after Reading stabbing terror attack
The early freeing from jail of the suspect at the centre of the Reading terror stabbing is likely to raise concerns over the continued use of automatic release on licence at the halfway point in sentences.
Khairi Saadallah, 25, had been jailed in October last year for minor, non-terrorist offences, for which it is understood he would have served half before being released earlier this month.
The Government has already moved to end early release for more serious crimes including terrorism but the vast majority of sentences continue to operate under rules introduced by Labour in 2004 for automatic release halfway through.
It could lead to the resurrection of proposals in the Conservatives’ 2010 manifesto for “honest” sentencing.
This would mean criminals could receive minimum and maximum terms, with the timing of release dependent on their good behaviour.
This would remove “automatic” release on licence, which was introduced as a way of reintegrating offenders into the community because they knew they would be returned to prison if they breached it.
It bring lesser offences in line with laws, introduced this year, to end automatic early release for terrorist offenders and require them to serve two thirds of their sentence before a parole board decides if they are safe to free into the community.
Similar changes have been introduced for serious violent and sex offenders jailed for seven or more years. This is expected to be extended to offenders sentenced to four or more years in a White Paper due later this year - which could provide a vehicle for a wider overhaul.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, is also planning to crackdown on bogus asylum seekers and speed up the deportation of foreign national offenders.
She is due to visit the scene of the attack today with the Thames Valley Chief Constable John Campbell.
The four point asylum plan will speed up removals of foreign criminals, ensure only authorised migrants can access services, "swiftly dismiss" bogus claims and crack down on false claims for citizenship.
It follows evidence that the number of serious offenders deported from the UK has dropped by 40 per cent in the last four years from 5,218 in 2015 to 3,225 last year.
