Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Ministers were left scrambling to rewrite rules on early prison releases after some murderers were found to be eligible.
The Labour Government introduced the scheme in September to ease overcrowding in jails.
But Ministry of Justice officials discovered that six dangerous offences were not on the list of crimes that prevent prisoners benefiting from the measure.
This included murderers who were convicted abroad and have since been extradited to the UK.
The MoJ quietly announced that the criteria had been redrawn in a statutory instrument laid in parliament.
Don’t miss…
More than 3,000 prisoners since it was introduced in September.
The changes mean inmates can be freed after 40% of their sentence rather than the previous halfway stage.
But it has proved embarrassing for Sir amid jubilant scenes of celebration upon the release of prisoners, while some are already back behind bars.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The new government inherited a justice system in crisis and took decisive action to stop our prisons from collapsing.
“When we replaced the previous government’s early-release scheme, we specifically excluded offences such as stalking and strangulation to protect victims of domestic abuse.
“To keep the public safe, we have kept the measures under review and acted immediately to address a small number of anomalies in the legislation.”