The two mistakenly freed prisoners are understood to not be violent or sexual offenders
Two prisoners who were mistakenly released in the past month are still at large, David Lammy has said.
The update comes after twelve prisoners were understood to have been mistakenly released over the past month, with earlier data also showing 91 accidental releases had taken place between April 1 and October 31 this year.
Speaking to broadcasters on Tuesday morning, the Justice Secretary said he had been “reassured” the two mistakenly freed prisoners who are currently missing are not violent or sexual offenders.
Mr Lammy told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I’m not going to give details of those cases, because these are operational decisions made by the police, and you’ll understand if they’re about to arrest somebody they don’t want me to blow the cover.”
With a series of prisoners being mistakenly freed over past months, the Justice Secretary announced plans for stronger security checks after Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu was released in error from HMP Chelmsford, in Essex, in October.
Last month Mr Lammy also said there was a “mountain to climb” in tackling the crisis in the prisons system, following on from the police search for Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, who was freed in error from HMP Wandsworth.
Another prisoner who was mistakenly freed, William ‘Billy’ Smith, handed himself back in to HMP Wandsworth, while Kaddour-Cherif was arrested.
Following the blunder in the mistaken release of Ethiopian national Kebatu, toughened checks were announced for prisons with an independent investigation launched into releases in error.
In the year up to March 2025, 262 inmates were mistakenly released, highlighting a 128 per cent increase on the 115 who were mistakenly released in the previous 12 months, according to government figures.
The Liberal Democrats have criticised both the government and the prison service for the blunders, saying both must “own up to their failures”.
Lib Dem justice spokeswoman Jess Brown-Fuller said: “The public deserves a full explanation about how this has happened again, and how the government are going to get a grip on this dangerous level of incompetence within our justice system.”
