Early prison release scheme prompts vows from freed men

Under a grey, forbidding Yorkshire autumn sky, Jake Crowder looked around the outskirts of HMP Doncaster and said his latest sentence had made him think about the need to change his life.

Jake, from just down the road in Sheffield, told us he was being released three weeks early from a 12-week stretch for shoplifting.

In his own words, he has been a “regular visitor” to the prison, but admitted: “I just need to sort myself out now.”

He said the seeds of his return to jail were sown by problems with his housing situation and being released homeless.

“I would just rather be in jail with a roof and three meals a day,” he added.

Jake said he was a high-risk prisoner due to mental health issues, meaning he should not have to share a cell.

Yet because of overcrowding he had been asked to “pad-up” with a fellow inmate, which he refused to do.

More than 1,700 prisoners were set to be released on Tuesday across the country to help reduce overcrowding in jails.

In Yorkshire, just under 130 prisoners were due for early release according to figures obtained by the BBC.

While there have been mixed feelings about the release in the outside world, what do prisoners think of the scheme?

“They think it’s one of the best things they have done,” Jake told us.

“They are putting people in jail for stupid things.”