Prolific sex offender committed 11 crimes in FIVE DAYS after Labour's early release scheme freed him

From the Newshound archive · first published 10 October 2026.

Michael Bogle, 38, a registered sex offender with over 100 convictions, was back behind bars within a week of being freed from HMP Wandsworth under the government's early release scheme, having committed 11 offences including shoplifting detergent from Sainsbury's by 6pm on his first day out. The Met's Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist called the speed of reoffending "astonishing," while a senior north-west London police commander wrote to MPs warning the scheme transferred prison pressure straight onto frontline policing at a cost of £1,887 in officer hours for this case alone. Bogle had served just 78 days of a 32-week suspended sentence before being released alongside 700 other prisoners on 1 October.

Bogle had 100 convictions and five previous jail terms — yet probation identified him as high-risk and still freed him.

Walking out of Wandsworth, Bogle told reporters: 'Keep the early release going. It's good.'

Probation staff preventing reoffending are reportedly running at below 26 per cent of target.