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two out of four prisoners Who were on a large scale According to reports, it was released in 2024 by mistake.
Pressure on the government is increasing As details emerged, the other two escaped prisoners were wrongly freed in June this year.
The mistaken release of four criminals represents just a few of the many high-profile cases of mistaken release of prisoners.
Only a day earlier, a sex offender who was released by mistake was finally arrested after a nine-day search. On Friday, Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was captured in Islington, north London, after being spotted by a member of the public.
The Algerian national – convicted of theft and previously convicted of indecent exposure – was serving a sentence HMP Wandsworth in south-west London but was accidentally liberated on 29 October.
Kaddour-Chérif’s release put pressure on Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who came under criticism for the way he handled the wrongful release of the prisoner.
When Mr Lammy appeared at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday he was criticized for his decision not to address the mistake despite being informed of it and for being asked repeatedly about the accidental prison release.
Following the 24-year-old’s arrest, he admitted the prison system has a “mountain to climb” to deal with the crisis.
“That’s why I’ve ordered new stringent release checks, launched an independent inquiry into systemic failings and begun reforming the outdated paper-based systems still used in some prisons,” the Justice Secretary said in a statement.
Just a day earlier, another wrongfully released inmate, fraudster Billy Smith, 35, handed himself in on Thursday.
And now, the BBC has reported details of four other prisoners who are still at large, in revelations that emerged for the first time just hours after Kadour-Chérif’s arrest.
In response to the reports, a Justice Ministry spokesperson said Independent: “The majority of offenders released by mistake are returned to prison immediately, and we will do everything we can, together with the police, to catch the few still in the community. These cases further highlight the scale of the crisis in our prisons we have inherited. This will not be fixed overnight, but we are using every possible measure to reduce these errors.”
Following Cadour-Chérif’s arrest, the Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philip MP, said: “The British public should not be responsible for capturing escaped criminals. This is lawlessness, incompetence and weakness from the top down, and it is putting people’s safety at risk.”
And shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the unaccounted prisoners exposed “the incompetence of this government”.
“The job of uncovering the facts should not be left to journalists. [Justice Secretary] “David Lammy will finally have to clarify how many prisoners have been released in error and how many remain free.”
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Jess Brown-Fuller said the situation was “disgraceful and shameful” and called for Parliament to be recalled from recess.
He said, “It should not take the media to tell the public that prisoners are at large after accidental release.”
“The situation is serious for the Government and the Justice Secretary. The public deserves a full and clear explanation and a prompt investigation that prevents this from happening again.
“Every resource must go into finding these prisoners and warning the public. The Justice Secretary must respond to MPs as soon as possible if Parliament is recalled.”