Becky mortonWANTED TO QUESTION
BBCPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “angry and disappointed” at the wrongful release of two prisoners from Wandshorth prison in London.
One of the men, Billy Smith, gave himself up to make the wedding but Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, an Algerian Sex Center who committed many more.
Speaking publicly about the releases for the first time, the Prime Minister hit out at the Prison System’s “Failures” Under the Government but it adds to our work to act and fix it. “
Conservaturce Shadoh Secretary Robert Jenrick says the government has “got to take action”, describing the situation as “a total shambles”.
Justice Secretary David Lammy promised “robust checks” to prevent further mistakes Following the accidental release of migrant sex offender Hasush Kebatu from Chelmsford prison in Essex last month.
Speaking from the Cop30 Environment Summit in Brazil, Sir Keir said the wrongful release that emerged this week was “unstoppable”.
He said a review was being conducted to establish “What went wrong” adding: “Systems need to be put in place for this to happen again.”
Dame Lynne Owens, a former representative of the Commissioner who met with the police, was tasked with establishing why Kebatu was released and making recommendations to prevent recommendations that were not properly released.
Wrongfully released prisoners have been a problem for some time, although the numbers have increased in recent years.
According to the latest figures, 262 prisoners in England and Wales will be wrongly released in the year to March 2025, up 128% from 115 last year.
The police manhunt continues for 24-year-old Kaddour-Cherif, who was convicted of indecent exposure in November 2024.
He is understood to have entered the UK legally on a visitor’s visa in 2019 but has overstayed and is in the early stages of deportation proceedings.
Kaddour-Cherif was released in error from HMP Wand Wandsworth on 29 October but only told police on Tuesday.
Prison governor sources told the BBC on the day Kaddour-Cherif was released because he had released the accident from HMP Chelmsford.
Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Smith, who was given a custodial sentence on Monday, was wrongly released from the jail in Sirkworth during the day due to a clerical error.
Surrey Police said he was no longer in custody, after handing himself in.
On Wednesday, before the news about the released prisoners emerged, Lammy, who stood up to Sir Keir Starmer in the Prime Minister in the Prime Minister in the Prime Minister in the Prime Minister in the Prime Minister
Lammy has since come under fire from the Tories for refusing to answer that question about whether he knew at that point about the wrongful release of Kaddour-Clef.
Speaking on Thursday, while visiting Gartree Prison in Lametyreshire, Lammy said “all the details of the commons are absent and don’t want to risk it”
He acknowledged that “the rate of release by mistake is very high” adding: “It has to come down.”
“We had 800 errors under the last government, it’s now going on for a generation,” Lammy said.
“Our prison system is in crisis so we’re going to bring it down but we have a mountain to climb.”
In an interview with Channel 4 News, Lammy emphasized the reliance on “a paper-based system instead of a significant problem in the prison release process.
He said the system was “subject to human error” and needed to change.
Lammy also said that Prisons Minister Lord Peppson would meet the families of the Kebatu victims – and that he would also be happy to meet the family.
The association of prison governors said that the number of prisoners released by mistake was “profoundly concerning” but that they happened “under the government’s watch”.
“Achieving a zero-error result will require a lot of investment in personnel, modern infrastructure, and recruitment, all within a system that has priority,” the association said in a statement.
“Successive governments have accepted this level of risk for decades. In that context, it feels futile to try politicians from a prison system.”
Jenrick accused Lammy of “a dereliction of duty” for refusing to answer questions to him at PMQs about whether he knew about the wrongful release of Kaddour-Clef.
The shadow Justice Secretary also criticized his rival for shopping for a new suit ahead of PMQs, “instead of tearing his department apart”.
In an attempt to explain why he did not wear a memory at the beginning of the session, Lammy told the MPS this morning because my gahina said he would watch. “
Sources close to Lammy say he did not go shopping on Wednesday morning and bought his new suit earlier in the week.
