Second mistaken prisoner release sparks outrage as UK justice system faces scrutiny

Police have launched an urgent search for a second foreign prisoner mistakenly freed, two days after the UK justice secretary, David Lammy, implemented stronger checks for jails.

The 24-year-old Algerian man was wrongly released from Wandsworth prison in south London last Wednesday, and the Metropolitan police were informed only this week.

The Guardian understands that the man was in prison for trespass with intent to steal.

This follows the case of Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, who was accidentally released from Chelmsford prison despite convictions for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman just days after arriving in the UK in a small boat.

Kebatu was mistakenly released on 24 October when he was supposed to be transferred to an immigration detention centre. He was arrested in north London and deported after being given a £500 discretionary payment.

Three days after Kebatu’s release, Lammy announced that immediate tough new checks would be introduced to prevent further mistaken releases, and that former police chief Lynne Owens would lead an inquiry into the error.

A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: "Shortly after 1300hrs on Tuesday 4 November, the Met was informed by the Prison Service that a prisoner had been released in error from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday 29 October.

"The prisoner is a 24-year-old Algerian man. Officers are conducting urgent inquiries to locate him and return him to custody."

Downing Street called it "a concerning case". Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson added: "It’s unacceptable, and the circumstances behind it will be thoroughly investigated... It’s clearly a developing situation, and it’s important to establish the facts."

The spokesperson added: "One mistaken release is too many, as we saw in the Kebatu case. That’s why we’ve ordered the review led by Lynne Owens. I think it’s fair to assume that this case will be included in that review."

The Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan, whose constituency includes Wandsworth prison, said: "I’m horrified to learn that someone was mistakenly released from Wandsworth prison.

"Local residents will understandably be deeply concerned. We urgently need answers from the government and Ministry of Justice as to how this was allowed to happen."

In tense Commons exchanges, the Tory frontbencher James Cartlidge, substituting for Kemi Badenoch at prime minister’s questions, asked Lammy repeatedly whether any asylum-seeking offenders had been accidentally released from prison since Kebatu. It is believed he was aware of the release when he asked his questions.

Cartlidge, a justice minister between 2021 and 2022, said: "He’s the justice secretary. He’s responsible for the justice system. He needs to take responsibility... Can he reassure the house that since Kebatu was released, no other asylum-seeking offender has been accidentally let out of prison?"

The justice secretary, standing in for Starmer, said: "We know that there have been spikes since 2021 under his watch. When did he come to this house and apologize? Let me just remind him that he was a justice minister who allowed our prisons to get to this state in the first place, and it’s now for us to fix the mess that we’ve got into."

In the year leading to March 2025, 262 prisoners were accidentally released, up from 115 the previous year. The Labour government has repeatedly criticized the Tories for leaving them a broken justice system.

Reacting to the mistaken release, Lammy said he was "absolutely outraged". He added: "The Metropolitan police is leading an urgent manhunt, and my officials have been working through the night to take him back to prison. Victims deserve better, and the public deserves answers.

"That’s why I have already implemented the strongest checks ever to prevent such failures and ordered an independent investigation, led by Dame Lynne Owens, to uncover what went wrong and address the rise in accidental releases, which has persisted for too long."

Lammy said the latest incident exposed "deeper flaws" within the criminal justice system, and Owens’s review would leave "no stone unturned" to identify the problems so they could be rectified.

The Conservatives called on Lammy to return to the Commons to make a statement. A spokesperson said: "If we knew, we can only assume the justice secretary knew."

Prison Service sources believe the authorities are examining the possibility that the prison did not have a warrant to hold the man in custody. There has been an increasing number of cases where prisoners are being moved between jails and courts and warrants are being lost or misplaced in the process. This forces prison staff to allow prisoners to walk free.

Responding to the latest release, the Prison Officers’ Association called for an "entire overhaul" of the sentencing calculation and discharging process and warned Lammy not to blame individual officers for systemic failures.

Mark Fairhurst, the POA’s national chair, said: "This latest release error highlights the immense pressure placed on the system and the need for an entire overhaul of the sentencing calculation and discharging process.

"Staff on the frontline should not become scapegoats when the leaders of the service have failed to address this problem for at least the last 12 months."