Burglar freed early from overcrowded prison just four months into his 18-month sentence went on burglary and theft spree

A thief freed early from an overcrowded prison went on burglary and theft spree - after serving just four months of his 18-month jail term.

Joshua Bassett, 26, carried out 23 new crimes within weeks of being released less than a quarter into his sentence.

A judge heard he was freed due to 'pressures on the prison estate' after being jailed for burglary of a hotel.

But the judge it was clear he still poses a risk to the community after hearing about his crime spree after being released.

The news came as the Prime Minister last night warned the nation's prisons were in a 'shocking' state, with Keir Starmer saying they were 'worse than I thought'.

From his release in February to May, career crook Bassett carried out a spate of shoplifting offences at shops in Swansea.

He targeted supernarkets including the Co-op, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Aldi stores and stealing almost £700 worth of meats, chocolate, jars of coffee.

Francesca Parry, prosecuting, said he confronted an Aldi shop security guard and threatened to stab him.

He burgled the Boutique Student Living building in St Helen's Road and stole two bicycles and a motorbike from the cycle storage area.

Bassett stole goods to the value of more than £6,000 during the burglaries.

He told officers he was addicted to heroin and alcohol and had been given no help with those issues when released from prison.

Bassett also said he owed £4,500 to London drug dealers.

Bassett, of Mount Pleasant, Swansea, pleaded guilty to 23 charges of theft and burglary.

Megan Williams, defending, said he was freed from prison early 'due to pressures in the prison estate'.

After his arrest was recalled back to prison to serve another four months of the original sentence.

She said when he was released from custody the defendant had not received help which he feels he needs to address his alcohol issues.

Recorder Bruce Gardiner said it was clear that the defendant continues to pose a risk to the public. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison at Swansea Crown Court.

Sir Keir Starmer last night claimed the situation in jails across England and Wales is 'worse than I thought' and branded Conservative ministers 'reckless' for not tackling the crisis when they were in power.

He confirmed that his new administration will within days introduce drastic measures to reduce the pressure – but insisted that the risk of dangerous criminals being let loose will be addressed. 

It is understood that those convicted of sex crimes and serious violence will not be eligible for early release.

Asked by reporters about the state of Britain's public finances as he travelled to the Nato summit in Washington DC, Sir Keir said: 'Some of what we've found is shocking, not so much about the finances, but I have to say on prisons. The situation is worse than I thought it was.

'I'm pretty shocked that it's been allowed to get into that situation. It's reckless to allow them to get into that place. We'll be saying more about that in short order.'

And pressed on whether he could guarantee that high-risk prisoners would not be set free early – as he had asked of his predecessor Rishi Sunak before the election – Sir Keir replied: 'We will make a statement in relation to this in the coming days.

'We're going to have to set out the state of affairs; what we intend to do about it, but it will include this question for risk categories.' He insisted: 'You know from my question to Mr Sunak, when he was Prime Minister, where I stand on this.'

Before the election Tory ministers agreed for low-level offenders to be freed up to 70 days early to reduce pressure on the prison population, which currently stands at 87,453.

But amid warnings that there are now only 700 spare spaces in adult male jails, new Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood will be forced to introduce a more radical policy by the end of the week.

It is expected to mean that criminals given standard determinate sentences of less than four years are released after serving 40 per cent of their terms rather than at the usual halfway point.