Police chief blames prison place crisis on Government

A leading police officer has launched an outspoken attack on the early release of criminals.

Kent chief constable Mike Fuller said dangerous offenders were being released early because of a lack of prison places.

He said: "Sentencing policy would appear to be determined more by the number of prison places rather than the seriousness of the crimes. That means recidivist offenders are being released from prison when they should not be."

He added: "People committing serious and violent crimes are not receiving as long sentences as they should be, making the job of the police more difficult."

The chief constable told the Guardian newspaper that the lack of available prison places could have easily been foreseen. He said that the Government had given a directive to increase the number of offenders brought to justice five years ago.

His comments are the first public sign of frustration within police ranks at the current crisis in prison places.

For such a senior officers to make an open attack on a key plank of Government policy - criminal justice - is also politically damaging.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "These comments simply do not reflect the reality.

"Average sentence lengths have increased in the last 10 years, while the prison population has increased by around 2,000 places a year. This is part of a comprehensive strategy that has seen crime fall by a third and by a greater amount for burglary."