A man who is accused of committing a sexual offence within hours of being let out of prison under the government’s early release scheme was freed in error, the BBC has been told.
Amari Ward, 31, was one of 37 prisoners who should not have been eligible for the early release scheme because they had breached restraining orders.
When police investigated Ward’s case, it emerged he and the others had been convicted under an outdated law, which was not recognised during checks.
Five of those who were mistakenly released have still not been located, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.
The department said police are working “urgently” to locate the rest.
Ward is due to attend Maidstone Crown Court next month.
The early release scheme was introduced to ease serious overcrowding in prisons, with some inmates let out after they had served 40% of their sentence rather than 50%.
The government had said those convicted of offences linked to domestic abuse – including breaching a restraining order – would not be eligible for early release.
However, 37 men’s crimes had incorrectly been prosecuted under outdated legislation from 1997.
That meant the system did not recognise they were ineligible for release. It only looked at offences under the Sentencing Act 2020.
Former chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the incident would be “very distressing and frightening for the victims”.
The MoJ confirmed 32 of those released early are now back in prison but five are still being searched for.
It also suggested the issue had been fixed for forthcoming early releases and all victims had now been contacted.
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