Victims and MPs press for emergency law to block early release of sex offenders
Victims and MPs are urging emergency legislation to stop rapists and child abusers being freed early, as survivor Marie Stone waives anonymity at Downing Street.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Victims of sexual abuse and MPs have stepped up pressure on the government over plans to release prisoners early, warning that rapists and child abusers could be freed under the scheme. Survivors went to Downing Street with politicians including Kieran Mullan to demand emergency legislation.
One survivor, Marie Stone, waived her right to anonymity for the visit. She had previously spoken anonymously about her case. Her abuser raped and sexually assaulted her from the age of 11 over a period of two years. She said child abusers and sex offenders should not be released early and that victims needed support to stop it.
Kieran Mullan said emergency legislation could be introduced in the coming weeks to stop the scheme from taking effect on 2 September. He argued the government could revoke the plans on a short-term basis immediately, and said Andy Burnham could stop it with a pen. In his view, there is no real pause until Burnham acts. He added that there could be a very short window, potentially just 24 hours, to pass new cross-party legislation carving out rapists and paedophiles from early release.
Andy Burnham has paused the early release scheme in order to review it. But Mullan disputed that this amounts to a pause, saying the mayor must formally act to stop the releases.
The debate has also become a political blame game. The Ministry of Justice has said Conservative criticism is rich, arguing that over 14 years the party delivered 500 net prison places and left the system in a total state. Kemi Badenoch said at a press conference that not enough prison places were built. Mullan accepted there are challenges in the prison system and that governments have had to make difficult decisions. But he said the answer had never before been to release rapists, child groomers and paedophiles earlier.
Mullan also warned that the changes being made are permanent and would still be in effect 10 or 20 years from now, regardless of how many prison spaces are available. He claimed the government was using the cover of a crisis to make permanent changes, and said there are other ways to manage the problem without releasing those offenders. Victims, he said, feel their justice has been snatched away after going through court and being told what sentence would be served.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Andy Burnham paused the early release scheme to review it. | |
| Kieran Mullan called for emergency legislation in the coming weeks to halt the early release scheme on 2 September. | |
| Victims whose perpetrators could be released early joined politicians including Kieran Mullan at Downing Street. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The programme focused on the political demand for emergency legislation and the timetable before 2 September. It interviewed Kieran Mullan and gave space to a survivor, Marie Stone, while challenging the idea that Andy Burnham had paused the scheme. It also set out the Ministry of Justice's counter-attack on the Conservatives and Mullan's warning that the changes could be permanent.
- “child abusers, sex offenders should not be being released early. You know, we are the victims.”
- “So when he says there's a pause, there's no pause. There is no pause until he does that.”
- “These are permanent changes that they're making to the system.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.