英国首相安迪·伯纳姆因一项早期监狱释放计划中可能包含性犯罪者而"亲自介入"[1]。政府原计划从英格兰威尔士监狱系统提前释放约6000名罪犯以缓解过度拥挤问题，该数字后被调整至约5000人，计划于10月启动[1]。
审查发现，部分因2003年前儿童性虐待案件被定罪的人可能未被列入排除名单[1]。问题在于这些案件中的施害者可能曾被控以过时的非礼罪名而非现代性虐待法规定的罪名，导致他们在排除范围的法律定义中被遗漏[1]。政府已命令司法部进行深入审查，确保此类案件被正确识别[1]。
保守党领导人凯米·贝德诺克指控政府"再次背叛受害者"[1]。
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has personally stepped in to address a legal loophole that could allow perpetrators of child sexual abuse to be released early under a prison decongestion scheme [1]. The government's plan to free approximately 5,000 prisoners from English and Welsh jails early—down from an originally planned 6,000—was intended to relieve severe overcrowding [1]. However, officials discovered that some individuals convicted of offences related to child sexual abuse committed before 2003 may have slipped through exclusion criteria because they were charged under older indecent assault laws rather than modern sexual abuse legislation [1].
The oversight raised concerns about dangerous offenders potentially being released prematurely. Notably, it emerged that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who murdered police officer PC Andrew Harper, could potentially be freed after serving half their sentences of their 16 and 13-year terms respectively [1]. In response, Burnham ordered the Ministry of Justice to conduct a thorough review to ensure such cases are properly identified and excluded from the early release scheme [1]. The intervention marks the Prime Minister's second significant involvement with the programme, having initially suspended it in his second week in office before resuming it under pressure [1].