Where is the justice for us? Families rage over Keir Starmer's plan to release killers

The heartbroken parents of a four-year-old girl killed by a speeding driver in a stolen car accused Keir Starmer of a "betrayal" as killers and rapists are set to be released early from prison.

Glenn and Becky Youens declared "true justice" must mean "consequences that match the harm caused".

They added: "Anything less is a betrayal - not just to us, but to every family still living with loss."

The emotional plea came hours after Britain's most senior police officer, Sir Mark Rowley, warned that criminals released early from prison will commit more crimes.

Killers and rapists will be let out of prison earlier and inmates will be rewarded for good behaviour behind bars.

Labour's sentencing tsar, David Gauke, recommended that criminals sentenced to more than four years should be let out after serving just half of their jail term behind bars.

Violet-Grace's killer, Aiden McAteer was jailed for just nine years and four months after hitting the youngster in a stolen car in St Helens.

Glenn and Becky Youens told the Daily Express: "Their plan to release prisoners early to ease overcrowding would mean that people like McAteer-people who kill children, who shatter families-could spend even less time behind bars.

"We've been told these measures are necessary to "manage prison populations," but what about managing the impact on victims' families? Where is the justice for us?

"Let us be clear: the sentences handed down for crimes like McAteer's are already too lenient.

"Early release only adds insult to injury. It sends a message that even the most serious crimes can be met with a shrug and a ticking clock. Meanwhile, those left behind are the ones serving a real life sentence.

"We wake up every day to a home that's quieter and emptier. We try to carry on but the pain doesn't go away. Meanwhile, people like McAteer could be walking free long before they have earned that freedom.

"When politicians talk about "balancing the system," they forget that the scales have already tipped-against victims, against families, against justice.

"We understand that prisons are overcrowded. But releasing dangerous offenders is not the answer."

Under Labour's proposals, criminals convicted of manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, conspiracy to murder and GBH will be among those let out after serving only half of their sentence behind bars.

Only the most extreme offenders will be refused the right to leave prison at the halfway point

Ministers are set to introduce a "progression model", which will see prisoners let out of their cells after just a third of their sentence.

They will then spend another third of their sentence under house arrest.

Only then will they be allowed onto licence and back into the community.

Serious offenders will have to wait until they have served half of their sentence.

And short sentences of under 12 months will be abolished in the vast majority of cases.

Ministers insisted this is necessary to end the prison overcrowding crisis.

Asked what impact he thinks the sentencing review will have on public safety, Sir Mark said: "If probation are going to spend more money on trying to reform offenders, divert them, reduce their recidivism, their repeat offending, that's fantastic, but a proportion of those who would've been in prison will be committing further offences because probation can't do a perfect job, it's impossible.

"That extra offending is work that police have to do to protect communities - that involves more arrests, more cases. We'll get more prison recalls where we're the agency tasked with chasing around offenders who don't want to be caught and using all our covert tactics and surveillance teams to find people who are now at large and a risk to communities.

"So, this will generate a lot of work for police."

Outlining one example of how police could face more battles with criminals, Britain's most senior officer said: "Yesterday we were chasing around a teenager who has been involved in machete attacks, who has previously been arrested for firearms and machete offences.

"We thought he was remanded in custody ... even under the current system he was eventually bailed, he skipped his bail on his tag and we've put massive resources into chasing him round and he's been caught with a machete again - that's going on day in, day out.

"Every time you put an offender into the community, a proportion of them will commit crime, a proportion of them will need chasing down by the police."

Another heartbroken mother, Jean Taylor, warned Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer there is "no deterrent" for violent criminals.

She said the Government will allow more killers onto the street.

Chantel Taylor was murdered in Birkenhead by Steven Wynne on March 13 2004.

Wynne, who was thrown out of the Army for using cannabis, had been drinking and taking cocaine on the night of the killing.

The violent thug attacked the mother-of-three with a meat cleaver and dismembered her body.

Ms Taylor's remains have never been recovered, with Wynne only being caught when he tried to torch a mosque in Birkenhead in revenge for the July 7 2005 London bombings.

Chantel's mother, Jean, told the Daily Express: "Steven Wynne murdered my daughter and then went into overkill and dismembered my daughter's body, putting her in a septic tank in his loft.

"One day, it could be next month, Steven Wynne will be amongst you, in the public domain, undetected.

"I'm sure this Government, with what they are doing, will allow him to be free.

"Absolutely unbelievable. Disgusting. Unthinkable, that this can happen.

"Steven Wynne is evil. He has not been punished for what he did. He should spend the rest of his life in prison. I should never have to write statements to the Parole Board.

"He should have got and remain in prison, for the rest of his life.

"The previous Government opposed Steven Wynne moving to an open prison.

"Steven Wynne is an evil killer. There is only one answer to the ongoing killings. When are they going to get it right? There is no deterrent. Families are left broken.

"They are the ones serving the life sentence. Us."

Shadow Policing Minister Matt Vickers MP said: "Labour are emptying prisons and unleashing chaos into our communities. Up to 43,000 criminals could escape a prison sentence under Starmer's plans, forcing police to waste time chasing offenders who should never have been released. It's utterly barmy.

"Met Police, MI5 and the National Crime Agency have delivered an unprecedented warning that Labour's plan puts public safety at risk. When the nation's top security chiefs sound the alarm, any responsible government would slam on the brakes, but Labour are charging ahead

"With the spending review looming, police leaders are crying out for investment and at a minimum the protection of their budgets. Labour must act or own the consequences.

"Starmer's plan is a criminal's charter and it's a recipe for a crime wave."

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "The first job of any Government is to keep people safe. That is why we are building prisons faster than at any time since the Victorian era and, through our sentencing reforms, we will make sure the public are never again put at risk of running out of prison places.

"This will be backed with a boost of up to £700 million a year by 2028-29 for probation services allowing us to tag and monitor tens of thousands more offenders. The Government will also put 13,000 more neighbourhood officers onto our streets and invest up to £1.2bn extra into police forces this year alone, part of the Plan for Change."