Early release prisoners reoffend within hours of being freed as scheme faces fresh scrutiny

From the Newshound archive · first published 8 October 2026.

Michael Bogle, 38, walked free on October 1 under a new early-release scheme and that same evening stole £43.50 of laundry detergent from a Tesco in Wembley. He returned to the same supermarket chain on three further occasions over the following days, taking goods worth another £98.85, before police arrested him on Monday. He pleaded guilty on Tuesday and received an eight-month prison sentence.

Bogle, a registered sex offender carrying 16 convictions across more than 100 alleged offences, was on his fifth prison sentence at the time of his early release.

He was among 700 prisoners let out last Thursday under a scheme that allows eligible inmates to leave after completing one third of their sentence, down from a previous threshold of 40-50%.

Before reoffending, Bogle had spoken to reporters, telling them the early release scheme 'is good' and that Labour would be getting his vote.