Justice Secretary David Lammy has acknowledged that the government faces “a mountain to climb” in addressing the prisons crisis, following the mistaken release of two inmates from HMP Wandsworth. Lammy defended his decision not to discuss the case of one of the prisoners during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, stating he was “not equipped with all the detail” at the time.
A convicted fraudster, William Smith, handed himself in on Thursday after being mistakenly freed by a court on Monday. However, Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old sex offender from Algeria, remains at large after being released in error last week. Lammy noted that there had been 800 errors under the previous government, adding that the paper-based processing system in prisons and courts would be overhauled.
Lammy said he made a judgment not to update Parliament until he had full details, despite government sources claiming he was briefed on Kaddour-Cherif’s disappearance on Tuesday night. Lammy told Channel 4 that he only learned of it on Wednesday morning. He also stated that the new release checks he introduced after a previous mistaken release had not yet been implemented at Wandsworth when Kaddour-Cherif was freed.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended Lammy, saying it was right to set out the facts to the best of his knowledge. Starmer expressed anger and frustration over the mistakes, attributing them partly to the “burden and strain on the system” inherited from the last government. Official figures show that the number of prisoners mistakenly released more than doubled to 262 in the year to March, compared to 115 the previous year, with prison overcrowding cited as a contributing factor.
The Metropolitan Police continue to search for Kaddour-Cherif, who is believed to be in London with links to Tower Hamlets and Westminster. In a separate incident, Hadush Kebatu, wrongly released from Chelmsford prison, was eventually deported after attempting to walk back into prison multiple times.
