Labour's early release scheme is set to free alleged rapists and paedophiles as police warn of nationwide crisis

From the Newshound archive · first published 26 September 2026.

Alleged rapists and paedophiles are among suspects set to be freed under Labour's early release scheme, due to begin next Thursday, as police sources warn they are bracing for a wave of sex offenders bailed into communities instead of jailed. The case of Zafer Dogan — bailed to a flat overlooking a children's playground after admitting taking and AI-sexualising images of children and women — has exposed the scale of the crisis. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley condemned the decision, which prosecutors and police had opposed.

A senior police source warned: 'We are bracing ourselves for more of this across the country — offenders who should be remanded, freed on bail, to the distress of their victims.'

The victims' commissioner has raised fears that the court system, buckling under pressure ahead of October's prisoner release date, will result in additional sex offenders being freed in error.

One of Dogan's victims was forced to move home after courts declined to jail him before sentencing — he was eventually imprisoned for two years.