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Grooming gang members, a serial paedophile and a predatory piano teacher are among the child sex offenders who may be eligible for early release under Labour.

Andy Burnham announced earlier this week that criminals convicted of rape, child sex offences and grooming would no longer be included in the controversial scheme.

But it has now emerged that the rules will not apply to sex offences committed before the law changed in 2003, even if the perpetrator was convicted more recently.

Sir Tony Blair's government introduced anti-grooming laws and the charge of sexual activity with a child in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, replacing a range of older offences.

Vicki Crawford was 14 when she was attacked in the late 1980s before her attacker, Melvyn Little, was jailed for seven years in 2024.

However, Little was convicted of indecent assault – the offence available at the time of the abuse – rather than sexual activity with a child.

Earlier this week, she was left 'incandescent with rage' after receiving a letter informing her that he could be eligible for early release.

Under the early release scheme, which aims to free up space in jails, offenders serving standard fixed-term sentences who were due to be released halfway through their term could now be let out at the 33 per cent mark.

Serious offenders on fixed-term sentences, who would previously have been released two-thirds of the way through their sentence, will instead be set free at the halfway point.

Mohammed Imran Akram and Mohammed Naheem, who were part of a grooming gang in Bradford, could be eligible for early release

Safraz Ahmed Latif and Wajid Hussain may also fall under the scope of Labour's scheme

Some members of Asian grooming gangs could be released early because they were convicted of indecent assault for offences committed before anti-grooming legislation was introduced in 2003.

They include five men from Bradford sentenced to a collective 35 years in prison last October for abusing a girl in care from the age of 13 during the early 2000s.

Mohammed Imran Akram, Safraz Ahmed Latif, Wajid Hussain, Mohammed Naheem and Nadeem Ali were all found guilty on various counts of indecent assault and each sentenced to between six and eight years in prison in 2025.

That may mean some of them could be freed by the end of 2028.

After the trial, the victim said the gang had taken away 'my basic rights and stole my future'.

She said the convictions had 'not left me triumphant, it has left me feeling pain for the girl I was when you came into my life'.

Child sex offenders who may fall within the scope of the scheme include Kevin Pritchard, who abused three girls aged under 12 between the 1970s and 1990s.

One of his victims was left so traumatised by the abuse that she considered taking her own life. In a victim impact statement read by her lawyer, she said the abuse had 'destroyed' her and that she would 'never recover'.

Pritchard, 65, of Hellesdon in Norfolk, was handed a 13-year sentence in 2021 after being found guilty of 15 historical offences, including gross indecency and indecent assault.

Other potential candidates for early release include Andrew Fox, who was found guilty of a series of offences against two boys dating back to the 1990s and early 2000s.

His crimes were only investigated in 2017 when one of his victims came forward as an adult and reported him to police.

He received a seven-year sentence in 2024 for a series of offences, including sexual assault and indecent assault.

Anthony Roberts, a piano teacher, abused two boys under ten at a boarding school in East Sussex between 1965 and 1974. He was convicted of indecency charges and sentenced to six years in July 2024.

Other potential candidates for early release include Andrew Fox, who was found guilty of a series of offences against two boys dating back to the 1990s and early 2000s

Nadeem Ali was one of five members of the grooming gang who were sentenced to a collective 35 years in prison

Vicki Crawford received a letter from the Probation Service informing her that her abuser Melvyn Little may be considered for release.

In the note, she was told that while rapists and some child sex offenders would be excluded from the scheme, 'all other changes will proceed as planned'.

She told GB News yesterday: 'If he was convicted under the latest Sexual Offences Act, he would have been prosecuted for sexual activity with a child. But because it was a legacy law, it was indecent assault and he didn't get convicted of child grooming because it wasn't an offence at that point.

'It makes me angry that they can do this. And I knew they were going to do it. I predicted it days ago. To say I'm incandescent is an understatement. It's disgusting.

'I want the public to be aware of this, because the way that this entire early-release scandal has been handled is devastating for other victims, and I'm pretty certain there'll be other victims in the same position as me.'

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch wrote to Mr Burnham on Wednesday to highlight the loophole for historical sex offenders and described it as 'yet another betrayal of victims'.

'On Tuesday, you told the country that those convicted of grooming offences would be excluded,' she wrote. 'Your own government has now put in writing that some of these men will be released early anyway.'

Jake Richards, a justice minister, yesterday sought to explain the exemption by saying that 'we cannot carve out every single offence' in the face of the prison overcrowding crisis.

He told Sky News: 'We've set out and published all the offences which have now been carved out of the new scheme, which begins in October.

'But what we have been very clear about is that we cannot carve out every single offence that people might want us to do so. We would like to do that. The Prime Minister has been very clear in his public pronouncements on this. He wanted to go further than this.

'As Prime Minister, he has to both understand and empathise with victims, but he also has a responsibility to keep the system afloat.'

Vicki Crawford (right) has been told her attacker could be eligible for early release

Andy Burnham announced earlier this week that criminals convicted of rape, serious child sex offences and grooming would no longer be included in the scheme. But there is a loophole for some historical sex offenders

In another blow for Mr Burnham, a police federation is threatening to take legal action against his 'unforgivable decision' to allow the early release of the killers of PC Andrew Harper.

Aileen O'Connor, the chair of the Thames Valley Police Federation, said she would 'throw everything' at trying to block Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers from being freed early.

PC Harper, a Thames Valley Police officer, was killed in August 2019 while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire.

Cole and Bowers, who were each handed 13 years in custody for manslaughter following a trial at The Old Bailey in 2020, remain eligible for early release despite a huge public outcry over the prospect of them serving only half their sentences.

Despite conducting an 'urgent review' of the scheme, the Prime Minister – who is currently on holiday abroad – is still allowing Cole and Bowers to be eligible for early release, something PC Harper's widow, Lissie, described yesterday as a 'gut punch'.