Survivors urge no early release for sex offenders

Grooming gang survivors have written to MPs asking them to exclude sexual offenders from early prison release.

It comes ahead of a debate on the Sentencing Act 2026 in Parliament later. Proposed changes include reducing the amount of jail time some prisoners will serve, which the government said would reduce overcrowding.

The letter, signed by five women from Yorkshire and the mother of a late victim from Rochdale, said: "We should not be left feeling that our suffering counted only long enough to secure a conviction and then stopped mattering."

The government said it had toughened sentencing for child sex offences and the most dangerous offenders were excluded from early release schemes.

The letter asks MPs to exclude sexual offenders from early release and says when any release is under consideration or due to happen there should be "a clear legal duty" to tell victims "in good time".

The risks to themselves and their families should also be considered with "proper safeguarding and support in place before an offender is released".

"We have already had so much taken from us," the letter said.

"Now, we are being asked to live with the fear that those people who harmed us may come back into the community sooner than we ever thought."

Sarah Wilson, one of the signatories, previously told the BBC she felt "let down all over again" after hearing that two of her attackers could be eligible for early release.

Seven men were convicted of offences against Sarah, from Rotherham, who has waived her right to anonymity.

The letter, also signed by Bradford child sexual exploitation survivor Fiona Goddard, said: "This is not about saying rehabilitation does not matter or that no offender should ever be released.

"It is about asking for survivors to matter too.

"We are frightened, exhausted and heartbroken by the impact that the early release... is having on survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation," the letter says.

"For survivors like us, justice has already taken far too long.

"By the time someone is finally convicted, we have often spent years waiting to be heard, believed and protected."

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the grooming gangs scandal was "one of Britain's darkest moments" and the independent inquiry launched because of it had led to the toughening of sentencing "so these vile predators face longer sentences".

"But because this government is sending more of these vile offenders to prison, and after just 500 prison places were added under the last government, failing to act would mean prisons running out of space again, leaving police unable to make arrests and courts unable to send offenders to prison altogether.

"We are fixing that failure by building 14,000 prison places with 3,200 already delivered."

The government said the most dangerous offenders were excluded from early release schemes, and those released face 24/7 monitoring, movement restrictions, location tagging and possible bans from public events, pubs and clubs.

The Conservatives have said they would force a vote calling for convicted rapists, paedophiles and grooming gang members to lose the right to automatic early release.