Justice Secretary David Lammy has acknowledged the government faces a “mountain to climb” in tackling the prisons crisis, defending his decision not to discuss a mistakenly released prisoner at Prime Minister’s Questions. Speaking after a meeting with prison governors in Leicestershire, Lammy said he was “not equipped with all the detail” when questioned on Wednesday about the release of a sex offender who remains at large.
The controversy surrounds two mistaken releases from HMP Wandsworth. William Smith, a convicted fraudster, handed himself in on Thursday after being mistakenly freed by a court on Monday. However, Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian sex offender released by mistake last week, is still missing. The Metropolitan Police believe he remains in London and have appealed for public help.
Lammy faced scrutiny after refusing to answer questions about Kaddour-Cherif’s release during PMQs. He insisted he had not misled parliament, stating: “I took the judgment that it is important when updating the house… that you have all of the detail.” Government sources said Lammy was briefed on Tuesday night, but he told Channel 4 he learned of the matter on Wednesday morning.
Lammy announced an overhaul of the paper-based system used to process prisoners, noting that 800 errors occurred under the previous government. He said new release checks introduced after the mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu on 24 October had not yet been implemented at Wandsworth when Kaddour-Cherif was freed. “We have a mountain to climb,” he added.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended Lammy, expressing anger and frustration over the mistakes. “They’re intolerable and they shouldn’t be made,” he said, blaming the failures on the previous government’s strain on the system. Official figures show the number of prisoners released by mistake more than doubled in the year to March, rising to 262 from 115 the previous year. Prison sources attribute the increase to overcrowding.
