Criminals could be let out of Britain’s prisons to serve time under ‘house arrest’ after completing just a sixth of their sentence behind bars, sources claimed today.

Officials at the Ministry of Justice are said to be considering changes to home detention curfews (HDCs) as part of the latest proposals to avoid jails becoming full.

The curfews mean prisoners can live at home, where they must stay in for the 12 hours between 7pm and 7am while being monitored with an electronic ankle tag.

Inmates currently become eligible for HDC release when they have served a fifth of the custodial part of a sentence, under the scheme first introduced in 1999.

However a new ‘progression’ sentencing model coming into force from October could see some inmates be switched to house arrest after just a sixth of their sentences.

While a prisoner is currently eligible for HDC at the 20 per cent point, this is only an ‘eligibility’ date and does not mean they are automatically released at this point.

But releasing prisoners even earlier is now being considered by the Government as one of a series of measures to prevent the country’s jails running out of space.

Justice Secretary Alex Norris is now looking into making the change amid plans to reduce the early release of offenders including two of PC Andrew Harper’s killers.

Labour’s early release scheme started in September 2024 with the aim of easing overcrowding in jails. A police officer and inmates are pictured outside Brixton Prison in London that month

Justice Secretary Alex Norris is carrying out a review of the early release scheme

Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said the HDC change would be ‘an outrage’, adding: ‘Labour should focus on using existing space, expanding capacity and building more prisons, not rushing out more half-baked plans as a short-term fix.’

Other possible measures include faster deportation of foreign criminals and reviewing indefinite imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences, reported the Telegraph.

It follows reports that Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, who killed the officer in Berkshire in 2019, are expected to be excluded from the early release scheme.

Criminals convicted of a certain type of manslaughter will no longer be eligible for early release – including Bowers and Cole, who were both aged 18 at the time.

It is thought the men will be blocked through a law change which will exempt those convicted of ‘unlawful act’ manslaughter – where a person causes death while committing an illegal act – from being released early.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham previously pledged to do ‘everything possible’ to ensure the pair were not freed from prison early following this year’s Sentencing Act, which is due to come in to force on October 1 to tackle overcrowding in jails.

He ordered a review of the early prisoner release scheme, which Mr Norris is carrying out and will be published when Parliament returns from summer recess next month.

Labour’s early release scheme started in September 2024 with the aim of easing overcrowding in jails. It allows certain prisoners to be released after serving 40 per cent of their fixed-term sentence, rather than the usual 50 per cent.

PC Andrew Harper was killed in August 2019 when responding to a quad bike theft in Berkshire

PC Harper’s killers Albert Bowers (left) and Jessie Cole (right), pictured outside court in 2020

The Sentencing Act, which became law earlier this year, allows for an expansion of the early release scheme by reducing the threshold from 40 per cent of a fixed-term sentence to a third.

Since becoming Prime Minister, Mr Burnham has excluded rapists and child sex offenders from being eligible for the scheme following widespread condemnation.

Some 5,000 people are now expected to be released early under sentencing changes under the Government’s scheme, down from 6,000 after Mr Burnham’s two exemptions were put in place.

Among them may be domestic abusers, who could still be eligible despite major concerns from campaigners.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman told the Daily Mail today: ‘Public safety will always be our priority.

‘We are fast-tracking a plan to keep more of the most serious offenders behind bars, on top of murderers, anyone on life sentences and sentences for rape, serious child sexual abuse and grooming offences which are already blocked from any changes.

‘We share the public’s anger that these options are even being considered, after we inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse.

‘We are fixing this by building 14,000 new prison places, expanding electronic tagging on an unprecedented scale, and investing in probation services at record levels.

‘We are also exploring how we can go further, including faster deportation of foreign criminals and reviewing the unjust IPP sentences.’