Dear, Dear, Dear!

Fury as Keir Starmer lets convicts walk free while three prisons sit near half empty.

EXCLUSIVE: Three prisons are nearly half empty, while a further six are more than a quarter empty amid a capacity crisis.

By Jake Holden

18:16, Fri, Nov 7, 2025.

Kier Starmer has released nearly 40,000 prisoners while several prisons are nearly half empty (Image: Getty)

Several prisons in the UK are nearly half empty despite the ongoing capacity crisis that saw Labour release nearly 40,000 prisoners early. Conservative shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan has said “it's an insult to victims and puts the public at increased risk” and that the “Labour Government needs to grip this issue”.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) claims “this is not true” and that all male prisons are at “over 80% capacity”, but their own population figures tell a different story. When looking at the baseline certified normal accommodation (CNA) for prisons - the sum total of all certified accommodation in a prison - two prisons are less than half full and a further seven are more than a quarter empty

Prison population: monthly prison figures 2025 Monthly prison population figures for 2025.

Good Grief!

HMP Cookham Wood in Rochester, Kent, is certified to house 180 prisoners, but there were just 83 inmates there in October. This is 46% of its certified capacity. When looking at the ‘In Use CNA’ figures for the prison, which accounts for cells not for immediate use due to damage or renovations, there are 166 cells currently available in the prison - exactly half of those are filled by the 83 inmates in the Category C adult male prison.