Operation Early Dawn reinstated to combat prison overcrowding amid UK riot sentencings

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Operation Early Dawn has been reintroduced to ease prison overcrowding in the north of England, following the sentencing of rioters who engaged in violent unrest across parts of the UK earlier this month.

The system, which was used previously by the Conservative government in May, was reactivated on Monday to manage the longstanding capacity issues in the UK’s prisons. It’ll see offenders “summoned to magistrates’ court only when it’s been confirmed that there’s a cell in the prison estate ready for them, should they be remanded into custody”. Until then, they’ll be held in a police station.

Law Society President Nick Emmerson said: “The prisons crisis is just one of many connected problems in the criminal justice system following decades of underfunding and cuts.”

Emmerson added: “Government is having to take difficult steps to deal with the crisis it inherited, such as reactivating Operation Early Dawn, which will impact victims, defendants and those working in the system including solicitors.”

More than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the riots earlier this month, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council, with more than 470 charged so far.

Prisons and Probation Minister Lord Timpson said: “We inherited a justice system in crisis and exposed to shocks. As a result, we have been forced into making difficult but necessary decisions to keep it operating.”

Looking ahead, Emmerson said: “In the longer term, sustained investment is needed across the criminal justice system in order to avoid it collapsing completely.”

Policing will continue to make necessary arrests “to keep the public safe” and Operation Early Dawn will be under constant review.