Hundreds of prisoners to be freed

The Government has drawn up plans to release hundreds of criminals from jail early.

About 550 non-violent and non-sexual offenders will be automatically freed halfway through their sentences, instead of having to wait until the two-thirds point.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) indicated that after the initial batch were freed over 14 months, there could be further releases under the same measures.

Jails in England and Wales have been instructed to let out eligible offenders from June 9, and were warned by Prison Service HQ that failing to do so would amount to "unlawful detention".

Former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf warned of a summer of "small scale rioting" due to overcrowding in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. He says tensions could be exacerbated by hot weather.