Justice Secretary David Lammy has disclosed that a dozen more inmates in England and Wales were mistakenly released from prison last month, with two of those individuals still not apprehended.
Downward Trend Claimed Despite New Cases
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Lammy acknowledged the new cases but insisted the "trend is downwards" following recent improvements to the release system. This comes after he informed the House of Commons in mid-November that there had been 91 accidental releases recorded between 1 April and 31 October this year.
"I said to parliament a few weeks ago, I released data at that point, and there had been 91 releases in error up to that point, there have been 12 since then, two are currently at large," Lammy stated on Tuesday.
Details on Fugitives and Past Errors
While refusing to give operational details that could compromise police efforts, Lammy confirmed the two individuals still at large were not violent or sexual offenders. He provided this reassurance during an interview on ITV's Good Morning Britain.
The latest figures add to a concerning annual total. Lammy previously stated that 262 prisoners were freed in error in the year to March 2025, a dramatic 128% increase on the previous period. This occurred out of approximately 57,000 total releases.
These revelations follow several high-profile cases that exposed systemic flaws, including:
- The erroneous release of sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif and fraudster Billy Smith from HMP Wandsworth. Both have since been caught.
- The mistaken freeing of Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman.
Timing of Errors and Political Scrutiny
Lammy confirmed that the error leading to Kaddour-Cherif's release happened in September, before tougher security checks were implemented. He has faced political criticism for his handling of the issue, particularly after initially refusing to confirm at Prime Minister's Questions whether any more asylum seekers had been wrongly released since Kebatu's case.
The Justice Secretary stated he was informed of the latest mistake on a Wednesday morning, with the details emerging publicly shortly after he finished the weekly parliamentary session.
