Justice Secretary of the United Kingdom, David Lammy, has confirmed that three prisoners who were mistakenly released from custody remain at large — including one who has been free since August last year.
Lammy revealed the shocking figures to MPs this week, as the government faces mounting criticism over a series of embarrassing blunders in the prison system. According to his statement, 91 prisoners were accidentally freed between April 1 and October 31, 2024 — a number he described as “symptomatic of a prison system under horrendous strain.”
“I’m clear that we must bear down on these numbers,” Lammy said. “We are putting in new guardrails around an archaic system, with tougher new checks, reviewing specific failings and modernising prison processes and joint working with courts — all to bear down on the increase in mistakes. That is what victims deserve. That is what the public expects, and this government will do what it takes to protect the public.”
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The three fugitives still at large include:
A prisoner serving time for a Class B drug offence, mistakenly freed in August 2024.
An inmate jailed for failing to surrender to police, released in December 2023.
A third offender serving a sentence for aggravated burglary, wrongly released in June 2024.
To combat future mishaps, Lammy — who also serves as Deputy Prime Minister — announced that the government will invest up to £10 million over six months in AI systems and new technologies designed to prevent similar administrative failures.
The announcement follows a string of high-profile cases in recent weeks, including two mistaken releases from HMP Wandsworth. One of the men, Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian offender, was recaptured in Islington after a member of the public recognised him from a Metro newspaper photo.
The other, William “Billy” Smith, later handed himself in after being wrongly let out.
Just weeks earlier, another case — that of Hadush Kebatu, a migrant s3x offender mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford in October — caused national outrage and intensified public pressure on the government.
Lammy said he was “appalled” by the rate of wrongful releases and has ordered stronger security checks and an independent investigation into how such errors occur.
However, prison officers speaking to Metro claim the problems go much deeper, pointing to overcrowding, chronic underfunding, and staff shortages as root causes.
“It’s a Category B jail,” one officer said. “There are prisoners going in and out every day for court dates and visits, and they are so understaffed. It’s just part of a wider issue of prison funding.”
With prisons stretched to breaking point, the government’s promised reforms — and the success of its new technology investments — may determine whether such costly, dangerous mistakes can finally be brought under control.
