A former actor freed from jail early under Keir Starmer’s prisoner release scheme is back behind bars after allegedly assaulting his ex-partner.

Jason Hoganson – who starred in the cult 1980s film Empire State – was pictured giving the thumbs up as he left HMP Durham on Sep 10 after being freed from an 18-month sentence for assaulting his former girlfriend in the street.

He was one of 1,750 prisoners released 40 per cent through their sentences rather than halfway under a scheme designed to prevent jails running out of space.

However, within 48 hours Hoganson, a 53-year-old of no fixed abode, his head covered in distinctive tattoos, was back in jail after being arrested.

A court heard he was arrested on Sep 11, the day after he was released, on suspicion of two counts of breaching a restraining order by contacting the same former partner and one of assaulting her.

Prosecutors said that Hoganson allegedly sent his former partner two letters while he was in HMP Durham in August and on Sep 3. He is then suspected of assaulting her by slapping her cheek at her home address the day after his prison release.

Hoganson appeared before Newcastle Magistrates’ court on Sep 12

Hoganson appeared before Newcastle Magistrates’ court on Sep 12 and pleaded guilty to one count of breaching the restraining order but not guilty to the second. He also denied the allegation of assault by beating.

The court heard that the assault allegedly happened at a property in Arthur’s Hill, Newcastle. District Judge Kate Meek accepted jurisdiction and his trial was listed for Oct 30 at South Tyneside Magistrates’ court. He was remanded in custody.

He had been due to appear again at North Tyneside Magistrates’ court via video link from prison on Wednesday, but refused to do so and his solicitor spoke on his behalf. He was further remanded in custody until his trial.

Hoganson, originally from Wallsend, struggled with his movie career and fell into a life of drink, drugs and crime.

He had a leading role in the 1988 Hollywood movie Empire State alongside Ray McAnally, the Irish actor, Jamie Foreman and Martin Landau, the US star.

Playing a Geordie drifter living among mobsters in London, Hoganson had been talent-scouted by producers who contacted his drama teacher looking for a youth to play the part in the 1987 movie.

He is the second prisoner freed early who is alleged to have committed a crime within hours of their release. It emerged last week that a different former inmate allegedly sexually assaulted a woman on the same day he was freed.

Amari Ward, 31, was released on Tuesday as part of the policy, which aims to ease prison overcrowding. He appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ court on Thursday, charged with sexual assault, and is due to attend Maidstone Crown court next month.

Ward is alleged to have “intentionally touched” a woman who did not consent in Sittingbourne, Kent, on Tuesday, according to court documents. He was arrested at an address in south London.

Prison and probation watchdogs forecast that prisoners released early would be recalled to jail within weeks, with homelessness a key reason for either breaching their licence or returning to crime. A third of freed prisoners reoffend within a year of release.