Badenoch concerned child sex offenders could be freed from jail early

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has raised concerns that child sex offenders and other "serious criminals" could be freed from jail early under the government's release scheme.

The government is planning to release about 5,000 offenders in England and Wales well before the end of their sentences in an effort to make space in overcrowded jails.

Andy Burnham reviewed the scheme after he became prime minister and this week he announced that some prisoners convicted of rape, serious child sex and other grooming offences would barred from early release.

But in a letter , external , Badenoch said many more types of offenders - including those convicted of sexually assaulting children - could be freed early.

"On Tuesday, you told the country that those convicted of grooming offences would be excluded," she wrote. "Your own government has now put in writing that some of these men will be released early anyway."

She pointed out that indecent assault was not included in the government's list of offences omitted , external from the early release scheme.

"Many cases of child sex abuse committed before 2004 were charged this way, including Rotherham and Rochdale," Badenoch wrote. "This does not appear on the list."

Badenoch branded this a "betrayal of victims", and urged Burnham to publish the full list of offences that remain eligible for early release.