Justice Secretary David Lammy is facing fresh pressure after it emerged that two more prisoners, including a convicted Algerian sex offender, were wrongly released from Wandsworth prison. The errors occurred just days after Lammy introduced stringent new checks for jails following a similar incident at Chelmsford prison.
Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, who had overstayed his visa, was released in error last Wednesday. He was serving a community order for indecent exposure and had been convicted of trespass with intent to steal. The Metropolitan Police was only informed of his release on Tuesday, giving him a six-day head start. He has links to Tower Hamlets and Westminster.
The same prison also accidentally freed William Smith, 35, also known as Billy, who was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences on Monday and released the same day. Surrey Police has issued an appeal for his whereabouts.
The Ministry of Justice admitted that Lammy had not been “accurately informed of key details” when questioned about mistaken releases at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier on Wednesday. Tory frontbencher James Cartlidge had pressed Lammy repeatedly on the issue.
Downing Street described the case as “concerning” and said it would be included in a review led by Lynne Owens. The Prison Service is investigating whether missing warrants led to the erroneous releases, a problem that has become increasingly common as prisoners are moved between jails and courts.
