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Thousands of prisoners will be released up to a year before the end of their sentence in major plans announced yesterday.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the sentence discount available to offenders under the home detention curfew (HDC) scheme will double from the current six months.
This means prisoners will be able to secure release from jail 12 months early in exchange for wearing an electronic tag, which is used to enforce curfews.
Criminals who are released at the 40 per cent point of their sentence under the Government’s separate early release scheme, known as SDS40, will also shave an additional year off their time if they are also able to join the tagging scheme, the Ministry of Justice confirmed.
Some lower-level violent criminals and sex…
