Survivors fear being hurt by abusers released early from prison

Warning: This story contains details about domestic abuse that some readers may find distressing.

A woman says she almost hopes her abusive ex-boyfriend, who is now eligible for early prison release, reoffends to prove the government's scheme to ease overcrowding in jails is "wrong".

Kate, not her real name, was strangled and attacked by her ex, who will now only serve a third of his sentence instead of half. She is among women the BBC has spoken to who are worried for their safety because of the scheme. She said her abuser was still an "angry human that doesn't care, which means he will come and hurt me".

About 700 offenders were released in England and Wales on Thursday under the scheme.

The government said they would be "monitored under the toughest supervision in British history".

But this reassurance is of little use to Kate, who said her ex-partner was unpredictable.

"I don't know what this person is going to do - this unpredictable person that hides in bushes to grab me - I don't know if that's going to happen again," she added.

Kate, who is from the West of England, said over their two-year relationship "the violence was horrible", but the "worst bit was the fear of the fear".

"The police had been called a few times and I was always like, 'Oh, it's alright, don't worry - I'm fine'.

"But when it was strangulation - the worst possible - I knew I had to do something because I'd be dead or someone would be," she said.

• If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line.

Getting up the courage to go to court, she said, had been "horrendous" and she had nearly given up, but since her ex-partner had been in prison, she said she had "felt safe".

"It's given me that breathing space to repair what he's done to me," she said.

Under the government's early release scheme, some 4,500 prisoners are now expected to start being released in tranches from 1 October to ease overcrowding in jails.

Thursday's release of 700 prisoners was the first of 10 scheduled to take place, with the final slated for June. The prisoners released first were serving sentences of up to 19 months, with the most serious offenders - serving fixed sentences of more than 12 years - leaving in later waves.

Kate said she felt "completely let down by the system", knowing her abuser could be free in weeks after serving less than 12 months in prison.

"It's almost like they've given the bully the ability to laugh in my face," she said.

"I almost hope that he does come and do those [things] because it will show that this is the wrong decision."

Natalie, which is not her real name, is also a survivor of domestic abuse and is devastated at the prospect of seeing her ex-partner released this month as part of the scheme.

Over the course of their decade-long relationship Natalie said she had endured physical, sexual and psychological abuse, which had left her "mentally brain-damaged".

"I've been held by my throat, I've had my head banged off walls, I've had broken toes, from steel-capped boots," she added.

"I've been dragged from one room to another, I've been curled up on the floor being kicked."

The survivor, who is also from the West of England, said she was "terrified" at the prospect of her abuser being released.

"Knowing that in four weeks' time my whole life could go down again has destroyed me," she added.

"I don't know his state of mind and it's that unpredictability in how you feel. And it's scary. It is really scary."

Natalie says she has struggled to manage daily life since leaving her abuser.

She has been moved to a safe - but isolated - location away from her friends and family, has been on long waiting lists for counselling and, at times, has gone without food due to a lack of money.

She is angry her abuser will receive the support she feels she was denied.

"When he is released, he will get money given to him before he even leaves the prison," she added.

"He will then go to his approved premises and he will have round-the-clock care, around the clock mental health help.

"You tell me what's fair in that? The fairness of me struggling, being suicidal, the wanting to die, not wanting to be here, to him coming out and getting handed all this and all this help straight away."

Natalie fears her torment will shortly start afresh.

"He always said to me, 'I'll never let you go. You'll never be fully away from me'," she added.

"I think I will die at the hands of him, one way or another."

Debbie Beadle, chief executive of Fearfree, which works to end domestic abuse, sexual violence and stalking in the South West, said the impact of the early release scheme on women was "huge".

"It makes them very unsettled and often fearful for their lives," she said.

She added that "what we're saying to women" with early releases "is that it doesn't matter what happened to you, and we're enabling these people that have harmed you to come out early".

Other charities, like the Hollie Gazzard Trust, set up following the murder of Hollie by her ex-partner in Gloucester in 2014, say an overhaul of the justice system is needed to make it more victim-focused.

"It's a very difficult place to be in when you don't feel safe, when you don't feel the state is protecting you," Beadle added.

"We can't have that in a civilized society going forward, we have to change things."

Concerns have also been raised by police forces, which say the scheme will add to their already stretched workloads.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire Chris Nelson said forces would have to make tough decisions.

"There's the issue of monitoring, which is primary the responsibility of probation, but there's also a certain amount of monitoring that goes on within the constabulary," he added.

"So when you increase the load on a police force without any additional money, you have to ask hard questions - where are you going to support? Who are you not going to support?"

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said new "restriction zones" were being introduced to confine the highest-risk sexual and violent offenders to an area just a few miles wide and to keep them away from their victims.

They added a "record number" of offenders were also being electronically tagged along with bans from pubs, clubs, football matches and public events.

Justice Secretary Alex Norris said it was the "toughest ever range of tools to control prison leavers and better protect the public".

"We understand the anxiety victims face ahead of offenders' release dates, but the greatest danger to victims would be prisons running out of cells for dangerous criminals, which was the crisis this government inherited," he said.

"Our plan will make sure this never happens again by building 14,000 prison places while subjecting offenders to the toughest ever controls – leaving them nowhere to hide and under no doubt that we are watching them."