Operation Early Dawn: Emergency measure to prevent prison overcrowding expected to launch on Monday | UK news

According to Sky News, an emergency plan to avoid prison overcrowding is set to come into force on Monday as more rioters are sentenced.

Operation Early Dawn is a long-standing plan that allows defendants awaiting court dates to be held in police cells until prison space becomes available.

Sky News understands the operation is likely to begin on Monday morning.

However, this may result in court dates being postponed or adjourned at short notice.

Prosecutors are trying to speed up proceedings against persons suspected of involvement in the recent unrest in parts of the United KingdomAs of last Monday, 927 people had been arrested and 466 of them charged.

Earlier, Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Guards' Association, predicted that an announcement about Operation Early Dawn could be made as early as Monday.

“Due to space constraints, I can safely say that Operation Early Dawn will begin sometime this week,” Fairhurst told Sky News.

He described the operation as “essentially a triage system for prisoners held in police cells.”

“We will only bring to justice those prisoners for whom we can guarantee a prison place. Therefore, only the most serious crimes will be tried in court,” he continued.

“But if someone has to go to prison, they will be in prison. We will find a place.”

Prison capacity has fallen following arrests following recent unrest and riots across the UK, he said earlier.

Mr Fairhurst said the north-east and north-west were under particular pressure, with offenders there being “taken 100 to 200 miles from home” to serve their sentences.

Read more:
Prisons feel pressure from wave of riot charges in Britain
Hundreds of new prison spaces released to deal with rioters

The Justice Department said last month that violence and self-harm in Prisons had reached an “unacceptable” level and overcrowding had brought some of them to the “brink of collapse”.

A damning inspection of HMP Wandsworth in south-west London revealed “chaos” and “horrific conditions”which was due to “poor leadership at all levels”.

To make room, Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood also plans to temporarily reduce the portion of a sentence that must be served before parole is possible. from 50% to 40%.

It is expected that 5,500 people will be released in September and October.

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It does not apply to people convicted of terrorism, sexual offences, domestic violence and some violent crimes. The government confirmed that people involved in the riots are also ineligible.

Operation Early Dawn was last used in May by the previous government, also to counter overcrowding.

The Bar Association warned at the time that there could be delays in the hearing of cases and that lawyers would not know whether the cases would definitely be heard until their clients arrived in court.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “This Government will always ensure we have the prison places we need and we have taken decisive action to ensure that criminals who break the law are brought to justice swiftly.”

“We will keep you informed of operational decisions in the usual way.”