South Yorkshire Criminal Barrister 'concerned' about early release scheme
Mark Thomas - who works in Sheffield - thinks it'll result in more prisoners being put back behind bars
There are concerns plans to release prisoners early could put even more pressure on the probation service across South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire.
This week - the Government's been setting out details of the scheme designed to prevent overcrowding.
Mark Thomas works as a Criminal Barrister in Sheffield:
"The probation service is already overworked and under resourced.
"We are essentially shifting the burden from the prison service that can't hold these prisoners, to the probation service that cannot manage these prisoners.
"If you fail to comply with your licence conditions, then you can be recalled back to prison.
"We are going to be having thousands of offenders released earlier than anticipated.
"The recall levels are going to be rather high I'd imagine."
Ministers say £110-million worth of existing cash will go into speeding up the building of more prison places.