The crisis surrounding David Lammy's handling of the prison system has intensified dramatically after it was revealed that a prisoner mistakenly released from custody went on to commit a new stalking offence while at large.
System Failure and Public Risk
A 34-year-old offender, whose identity remains undisclosed, was incorrectly released from prison on Monday last week and subsequently arrested for stalking a woman during his unlawful freedom. The Deputy Prime Minister's Ministry of Justice has faced severe criticism for refusing to comment on the case and initially avoiding questions about whether the man had reoffended after his mistaken release.
On Tuesday, Mr Lammy informed Parliament that officials were still attempting to determine whether the offender remained free after being wrongly released on November 3rd. The situation became clearer on Wednesday when authorities confirmed the prisoner had been detained overnight by Leicestershire Police - a full eight days after his erroneous release.
Political Fallout and Demands for Transparency
Tory frontbencher Robert Jenrick, who has coined the term 'Lammy's lags' for the missing prisoners, described the situation as a 'disgrace' that the administrative error led to a new crime being committed. The Shadow Justice Secretary stated: 'A prisoner who escaped Lammy's "strongest ever checks" has been charged with stalking hours later. A disgrace. People are being put at risk by this crisis.'
Mr Jenrick further challenged the Justice Secretary, demanding: 'How many screw-ups have there been that David Lammy isn't telling us about?' He added that the incident was 'shocking but not surprising' and called for complete transparency about how many other prisoners have been charged with crimes while unlawfully free.
Broader Pattern of Prison Failures
According to reports from The Sun, the re-arrested prisoner in Leicestershire now faces a Crown Court trial next year for multiple serious offences including coercive control, intentional strangulation, and common assault. It remains unclear whether he was wrongly freed after being remanded or part-way through serving a separate sentence.
Mr Lammy faced intense questioning from MPs on Tuesday, exactly one week after conspicuously avoiding questions about the prison service failures. During his Commons appearance, he revealed that 91 prisoners had been mistakenly released in just seven months. These recent cases come in addition to 262 erroneous releases from prison in the year to March, among whom 87 were offenders whose main conviction involved violence against a person, and three whose primary offence was sexual in nature.
Three prisoners remain at large - two British nationals and one foreign national. The first was imprisoned for failure to surrender to police before being incorrectly freed in December 2024. The second served time for a Class B drug offence until his mistaken release in August 2024. The third was incarcerated for aggravated burglary and wrongly released in June 2025.
The current crisis first emerged when Epping migrant hotel resident and sex offender Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly freed from HMP Chelmsford on October 24th, leading to a two-day manhunt before his arrest in north London. This initial case was followed by numerous additional incidents.
The Deputy Prime Minister received heavy criticism for his evasive performance while standing in for Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions last week. Opponents branded Mr Lammy a 'clown' after he refused to answer directly whether another foreign offender had been mistakenly released - only for the truth to be confirmed minutes later. He compounded the confusion by suggesting he had spent the morning suit shopping rather than addressing the escalating crisis.
