Crowds waiting for inmates to be released from HMP Wandsworth are drinking champagne in celebration of the early-release scheme.
Arriving at the Victorian prison from 8am, dozens of friends of prisoners parked up to welcome their associates being released today.
Some of those waiting are ex-convicts who told GB News that they were celebrating the start of the scheme, which is seeing people being released after serving 40 per cent of their sentences.
One of the first set of ex-prisoners to be released knew one of those waiting outside the prison, built in 1851.
Friends of prisoners parked up at HMP Wandsworth to welcome their associates being released today
GB News
They embraced and shared a joint, while an unmarked police car watched the reunion down the road.
Some of those waiting outside showed GB News footage they claimed had been taken on illegally smuggled mobile phones inside HMP Wandsworth.
One man, who did not want to be named, showed footage of him smoking what appeared to be cannabis inside his cell.
Blasting loud music and showing off cash, the group declined to say what their associate had been convicted of.
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Charlie Peters at HMP Wandsworth
GB News
The scheme, starting today, will see an additional 1,700 prisoners released to free up prison spaces.
It comes as criminal justice commentators and the inspectorate of prisons warn about chronic overcrowding, with drug use and violence rife across the system.
Over 80 per cent of offenders in HMP Wandsworth share cells, many of which are designed for single occupancy.
The prison has endured thousands of violent incidents, hundreds of them serious.
Thousands of prisoners are being released today
GB News