At least four prisoners freed in error still at large

The UK government is under mounting pressure after multiple prisoners, including convicted sex offenders, were mistakenly released from custody with four still at large.

The latest incident involves Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian national who was wrongly freed from HMP Wandsworth on October 29 and later recaptured in Finsbury Park, north London, following a public tip-off. His arrest came just days after another migrant sex offender, Hadush Kebatu, who arrived in the UK by small boat, was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford in Essex late last month.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said:
“The vast majority of offenders released by mistake are quickly brought back to prison, and we will do everything we can to work with the police to capture the few still in the community.”

However, the government’s handling of the situation has drawn intense criticism from across the political spectrum.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the unaccounted-for prisoners “reveal the incompetence of this government,” adding:
“It shouldn’t be left to reporters to uncover the facts. Justice Secretary David Lammy must finally come clean about how many prisoners have been accidentally released and how many are still at large.”

Liberal Democrat spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller called the situation “a disgrace and an omnishambles,” demanding that “every resource” be devoted to locating the missing offenders.

Justice Secretary David Lammy acknowledged the crisis, blaming systemic failures inherited from previous administrations.
“We inherited a prison system in crisis, and I’m appalled at the rate of releases in error this is causing,” Lammy said.
“I’ve ordered new tough release checks, commissioned an independent investigation into systemic failures, and begun overhauling archaic paper-based systems still used in some prisons.”

Kaddour-Cherif, convicted of indecent exposure in November 2024, was serving an 18-month community order and was on the sex offenders register for five years. Despite being cleared of breaching reporting requirements, he still faced other charges and should not have been released. Officials say a clerical error resulted in the absence of a valid warrant to hold him.

William Smith, another prisoner released from Wandsworth earlier this week, has since turned himself in.

The incidents come amid mounting evidence of deep dysfunction within Britain’s prison system. Chronic overcrowding and staff shortages have stretched resources to breaking point, forcing the government to introduce an emergency early release scheme last summer allowing some inmates to be freed after serving just 40% of their sentences instead of 50%. Nearly 40,000 inmates have already been released early under the measure.

Despite promises to build new prisons, projections show the prison population will continue to rise sharply in the coming years, increasing the likelihood of further administrative failures.