Domestic abusers may be among around 1,700 prisoners released from jail early this week as part of plans to ease overcrowding, a Home Office minister admitted on Monday.
The move is part of the Government's efforts to tackle chronic overcrowding in jails and will see hundreds of offenders let out early on Tuesday having served only 40 per cent of their sentences.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said it will not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse and some violent offences.
However, she admitted that those who may not be in prison for domestic violence but have a history of abuse may be on the early release list.
She told the BBC: "For those who will be released tomorrow, probation have been working very hard to make sure that there are plans in place.
"People are released on licence and can be recalled if they commit further offences.
"So there's a whole range of things that are already in place to make sure tomorrow goes as well as we can expect, but clearly nobody wants to be doing this."
Asked how many prisoners were due to be released on Tuesday, she said: "I understand it's in the region of about 1,700."
She added: “There are safeguards in place to ensure that if there are any concerns, particularly around those perpetrators of domestic abuse, who might not be in prison for a domestic abuse offence but perhaps there is a history of abuse, that there are measures in place to inform the victims of domestic abuse, to refer to the [local area] where they can assess risk, if there are children involved there are referrals through to social services.
“There is a whole range of things being done to protect the public.”
But the Domestic Abuse Commissioner said victims are having "sleepless nights" ahead of the introduction of the temporary early release scheme.
Nicole Jacobs also suggested some may not be aware of the situation and could be "put in danger" as a result of the plan.
The prison population reached a new record high of 88,521 people on Friday, and has risen by more than 1,000 people over the past four weeks.
Ms Jacobs told the Sunday Times: "There will be so many people in the prison estate in their background or history that will be perpetrators of domestic abusers and they will be released unless they meet the criteria exclusions, so it isn't perfect.
"There's no doubt the government has done their best to mitigate these risks but it's very obvious the risk is still there and particularly for domestic abuse, in my view.
She continued: "We must ensure that victims aren't lost in the shuffle of the changes that are being made in the prison release schemes and the perception of justice and fairness.
"Victims of domestic abuse are very focused on those release dates, it causes them sleepless nights, they will change so much of their daily activities knowing that their perpetrator is being released, the uncertainty of not knowing if that person will comply with licensing conditions and of release.
"This is incredibly stressful in the normal situation so for those dates to change unexpectedly or without them knowing that is a huge consequence for them to pay."
Ms Jacobs said many victims whose abusers were due to be released would not be eligible for victim notifications schemes and therefore might not know about their early release.
She added: "There are all sorts of reasons why victims, and particularly victims of domestic abuse, will be worried about what the arrangements are, and of course the most concern I have is people who are wholly unaware and will be very surprised and maybe put in danger because someone is being released early and aren't aware that that was happening."
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insisted on Saturday there were "safeguards in place" in relation to high-risk prisoners, including those convicted of domestic violence-related offences.
Pressed on the matter during his visit to Dublin, he added: "We are doing everything we can to make sure that high-risk and domestic abusers, domestic violence cases are not released."
Along with the early release scheme, the Government plans to recruit 1,000 new trainee probation officers by March 2025 to meet additional demand.
