Labour’s soft-justice reforms will unleash a crimewave on the streets, police chiefs warn.

The unprecedented intervention came as the Government was left reeling by another day of chaos in the creaking criminal justice system, with two more prisoners being wrongly released.

Last night a manhunt was under way after it took prison bosses nearly a week to realise that Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif had been mistakenly freed from scandal-hit HMP Wandsworth.

Hours after news of his release emerged, it was revealed that another inmate at the London prison, William Smith, has been at large since Monday after the wrong sentence was put on his court file, resulting in the fraudster walking free instead of serving a 45-month sentence.

And the head of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), Gavin Stephens, says things will only get worse as thousands more criminals will soon be on the streets, leaving taxpayers footing an extra £400million bill in police costs next year.

Forces are preparing for a spike in crime across the country next year when the Government goes ahead with plans to jail fewer offenders by ditching shorter sentences and releasing inmates earlier.

In a stark prediction of the dangers posed by the proposed Sentencing Bill, police leaders estimate crime will surge by up to 6 per cent in just a year, putting the public and victims at increased risk.

Mr Stephens revealed that while forces were braced for a rise in reoffending, the Government had yet to produce any evaluation of the reform consequences. MPs and victims campaigners demanded assurances about public safety as shadow home secretary Chris Philp hit out at Keir Starmer, saying: ‘This will be a crimewave made in Downing Street. The justice system is falling apart under Labour.’

The NPCC calculated that the Sentencing Bill will result in crime rising by between 4 and 6 per cent – around 360,000 additional crimes a year on top of the 6.6 million offences recorded in the 12 months to June 2025.

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‘We think that is £400million worth of pressure on policing,’ Mr Stephens said. ‘There is no doubt in the short term that there will be an increase (in crime).’ Mr Philp said: ‘This shocking disclosure by the police makes clear that Labour’s weak and reckless plans to release more prisoners early and abolish prison sentences under a year will lead to more criminals on our streets and more crime.

‘Labour’s choices will make us less safe and will mean more robberies, thefts and assaults.’

Mr Stephens warned that jailing fewer criminals will result in officers having to divert from tackling other crimes to deal with reoffending, adding: ‘You might have a neighbourhood police officer who’s making good progress on a local problem-solving plan, and they’ve got to drop that to go deal with a recall or process somebody that’s just been arrested.’

When asked about the long-term impact on crime rates, the senior officer said no one in government had been able to work that out and no extra funding had been allocated to forces to deal with the influx of criminals serving their sentence in the community instead of behind bars.

Mr Stephens acknowledged that reforms were needed, saying: ‘It’s no secret that the criminal justice system is not working as it should.

‘The pressure on police, courts, prisons and probation cannot continue – which is why we support the Government’s ambition to overhaul sentencing and relieve the prison crowding crisis.’

But he predicted: ‘There will be an impact on confidence in criminal justice.’

Assistant Chief Constable Jason Devonport added: ‘The logic we are working on is that those offenders that currently are in prison today, in the future they won’t be in prison, therefore there is potential they will commit more crime based on the reoffending rate.’

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British national William Smith (pictured), who goes by Billy, was mistakenly freed from the scandal-hit prison on Monday

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Algerian migrant Brahim Kaddour-Cherif (pictured) has been at large after being accidentally freed from HMP Wandsworth on October 29

Victims’ Commissioner for London, Claire Waxman, said: ‘Reform must not come at a cost to victims and public safety. Adjusting to this new framework will place a strain on our justice system, particularly on our police forces.

‘As it stands, we risk asking the police to do more with less.’ The reforms will see thousands of offenders, who would have been given custodial sentences, being managed in the community through remote measures such as electronic tags.

That means instead of solving crimes, officers will have to enforce breaches of court and community orders. Police say they will need more officers and staff, such as domestic violence and sexual offence advisers who can help victims when they dial 999 about a violent attack only to learn that the perpetrator will not be locked up.

Almost 40,000 prisoners in England and Wales have been released early since September 2024 under the Government’s controversial early-release scheme.