Child abuse victim criticises early prisoner release scheme

Lewsey, 53, a bus driver from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, said: “I am serving a life sentence for what this vile man did to me.

“Whilst I understand that the prison system is struggling, how on earth can a predatory and serial child sexual offender be considered for early release?

“It utterly undermines all that I and his other victims have been through and are still living through today.”

Lewsey said Langrish, who worked in Crawley during the 1980s, only ended his abuse in 1989 when he was jailed for unrelated child sex offences.

After he was released, Langrish moved to Sweden and changed his name to Glenn Stephens.

Lewsey reported the abuse he suffered in 2011, but Langrish – by then a Swedish citizen – was protected from extradition to the UK.

An international warrant was issued for his arrest should he leave Sweden. After he was located in Poland in May 2023, he was brought back to the UK and arrested at Heathrow Airport.

Last month, Lewsey received a letter from the Ministry for Justice warning him of changes to the Sentencing Act.

Under the early prisoner release scheme, offenders on fixed terms could have been released from prison after serving a third of their sentence, rather than a half, in a bid to free up space in prisons.

The scheme was originally announced by Sir Keir Starmer’s government in July 2024 as part of plans to free up spaces in prisons to ease overcrowding.

Under Starmer, the Ministry of Justice previously said it had “inherited a prison system in crisis”.

New Justice Minister Alex Norris said the public “don’t want to see a situation where a person who needs a prison place can’t get one”.

However, Burnham has said the scheme will not begin as planned in September and has been paused pending a review.

Lewsey said he had been told Langrish would not be freed early, but voiced confusion at the situation.