Justice Secretary David Lammy has confirmed that three inmates who were mistakenly released remain at large — including one who has been free since August last year. The revelation adds to mounting pressure on the government as it faces scrutiny over repeated failures in the prison system.
Lammy told Parliament that 91 prisoners had been wrongly freed between April 1 and October 31 this year. “We must bear down on these numbers, which show a prison system under severe strain,” he said.
One of the fugitives, released in August 2024, had been serving time for a Class B drug offence. Another, freed in December last year, had been jailed for failing to surrender to police, while the third released in June was serving a sentence for aggravated burglary.
Lammy, who also serves as Deputy Prime Minister, announced plans to invest up to £10 million over the next six months in AI and other technologies to prevent such blunders. “We’re reinforcing an outdated system with stronger checks, reviewing failures, and modernising how prisons and courts work together,” he said. “This is what victims deserve and what the public expects and this government will do what it takes to keep people safe.”
The disclosure follows two high-profile mistaken releases from HMP Wandsworth last week. One of the inmates, 24-year-old Algerian offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, was recaptured in Islington after being spotted by a member of the public. Days earlier, another wrongly released prisoner, William “Billy” Smith, had turned himself in.
The incidents come shortly after the wrongful release of convicted s3x offender Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford in October a case that drew national outrage and renewed criticism of the prison service.
Lammy previously said he was “appalled” by the growing number of release errors. An independent investigation and tighter security protocols have since been ordered, but prison staff warn the issue runs much deeper. Officers told Metro that overcrowding and chronic understaffing have made such mistakes almost inevitable. “It’s a category B jail,” one officer said. “There are prisoners constantly moving for court dates and visits, but staffing is so low that things slip through. It’s all part of a bigger problem the system just isn’t funded properly.”
