PRISONERS GET £5MILLION!

Prisoners released early from jail have been paid more than £5 million in 'compensation' for losing free board and lodging, it was revealed yesterday.

The taxpayer-funded handouts have been made under a controversial scheme to cut overcrowding in Britain's prisons.

Introduced after Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in June 2007, the end-of-custody licence (ECL) has enabled almost 50,000 prisoners to walk free before the halfway point of their sentence because of the chronic shortage of cell space.

Figures released by Justice Secretary Jack Straw show the Government has so far paid around £5.4m to prisoners to make up for loss of free board and lodging and their inability to claim benefits during the early release period.

Prison Governors have paid out £2.27m directly and the Department of Work and Pensions a further £3.11m, with a further £429,000 being spent on administering the scheme. These offenders would usually be automatically released at the halfway stage.

Eligible prisoners receive a £46 discharge grant and £47 weekly subsistence payment during the early release period. An offender released 18 days early will receive around £170 cash to cover this period. Housing payments of between £50 and £70 can also be paid to cover up to three weeks rent.

The disclosure that millions of pounds is being handed to inmates for the privilege of walking out of jail early has prompted anger from the Tories, who already labelled the scheme 'positively dangerous.'

Prisoners serving between four weeks and four years in jail are released up to 18 days early to ease overcrowding. Around 1,000 crimes are estimated to have been committed by the prisoners on early release, including at least three killings and two rapes.

Andrew Mournian, 36, was given a life sentence for beating his partner, mother-of-two Amanda Murphy, to death at their home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. He was released early from a 12-month sentence for attacking Miss Murphy, 48, with a bottle. Days later he killed her with his fists.

While Darren Abrams, 20, took part in a drunken attack which led to the death of 19-year-old student Jed Sheridan in Portsmouth. He smashed a bottle over his head before a friend repeatedly kicked him. Abrams hanged himself whilst on remand.

The third alleged murder took place in South Wales last September. Two terrorists have also been released early under the 'temporary' scheme and dozens of offences of violence committed during the early release period.

Opposition MPs have slammed the early release scheme and shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve said of the latest figures: 'Hard-pressed taxpayers will be flabbergasted to learn they are compensating prisoners for being released early - it just adds insult to injury.'

Justice Minister David Hanson stressed prisoners with over £500 in personal funds did not receive cash and he added: 'These payments are made to prisoners who could not otherwise pay for food and accommodation, as they are not able to claim benefits while on ECL. We will end ECL when there is sufficient prison capacity to safely do so.'

The Government was forced to introduce the scheme because of insufficient space to house Britain's 82,000 prisoners, but details of the payments had not previously been revealed.

The prisoners to benefit from early release have included nearly 10,000 violent offenders and more than 4,000 burglars. More than 1,500 criminals let out early have been recalled for breaching the terms of their release and one in ten of those are still on the run. (Prisoners compensation)

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