Met chief Sir Mark Rowley warns of 'revolving door' justice as over 100 tag breaches hit London every day

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026.

Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has disclosed that London officers are handling upwards of 100 electronic tagging violations daily — a figure that continues to climb. He said that in more than 95 per cent of cases where people are arrested for breaching their tag conditions, courts simply return them to the community on identical terms, imposing no sanction whatsoever. Rowley warned that Labour's early release scheme is driving the disorder, with officers re-arresting two or three freed prisoners every week for fresh offending or recall to prison.

Stalking and domestic abuse victims are among those exposed — one Canterbury woman told Rowley her stalker, jailed for five years in January 2025, was freed early and she received a letter telling her he was out.

Serial sex offender and shoplifter Michael Bogle, 38, reportedly crowed 'keep the early release going, it's good' as he walked free from Wandsworth Prison — and was back behind bars within days after a shoplifting spree.

The Met is also receiving nearly 1,600 court arrest warrants a month, almost DOUBLE the previous figure, as failures to appear surge alongside the tag-breach crisis.