2,000 to receive get-out-of-jail tags

Two thousand criminals will be let out of jail early by Home Secretary David Blunkett under a radical plan to beat prison overcrowding.

The move, announced today, will allow burglars, fraudsters and drug offenders out two months before they are due for parole.

They will be fitted with electronic tags in a major extension of the Government's controversial curfew scheme.

Mr Blunkett defended the move, pointing out that violent and sexual offenders will be excluded, as will anyone sentenced to more than 12 months in prison.

However, tagged offenders have already gone on to commit crimes including rapes and kidnappings.

Home Office figures show that six per cent of tagged convicts reoffend while they are on the scheme, although critics say the true number could be far higher.

Britain's prison population has jumped from 66,000 to 70,000 since the start of this year, pushing the total right up against its limit. Some prisoners are being held in police cells because there are no jail cells available.

The system is expected to reach maximum capacity this summer without emergency action.

However, the Home Office is insisting that today's move is intended mainly to help prisoners get used to life outside jail, rather than to combat overcrowding.

Mr Blunkett will offer prison governors some discretion to refuse early release to people they fear pose a danger to the public.A Home Office spokesman said: "Mr Blunkett will announce the use of the tagging scheme as the first resort in breaking the cycle of crime."

Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin said: "This undermines the fundamental principles of criminal justice.

"When a judge sentences a criminal, it is the responsibility of the Home Secretary to ensure that the criminal in question can serve the sentence in question.

"This illustrates why the Home Secretary should be engaging in properly co-ordinated policies, rather than moment-to-moment 'initiatives'."