They didn't have much choice with the prisoners. Prisons were overcrowded and weeks from being full.
They do need to reform the justice system and/or announce more prisons are to be built though. There is no point decrying the state of how prisons were left if you're not going to do anything about it long-term.
There is a story in The Times today actually about how bad things are:
https://www.thetimes.com/article/edd...9898a43979374d