Police Launch Hunt for Prisoners Freed in Error

The incident comes just weeks after migrant sex offender Hadush Kebato, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford in Essex.

This has put Justice Secretary David Lammy under pressure, who had promised to implement extra checks to prevent similar cases following Kebato's release.

During Prime Minister's Questions, Lammy, standing in for Sir Keir Starmer, was repeatedly asked whether any asylum-seeking offenders had been mistakenly released from prison since Kebato's release, but he refused to answer.

As PMQs was drawing to a close, the Met Police issued a statement revealing that a foreign national prisoner had been mistakenly released last Wednesday, a matter reported to police on Tuesday.

Police later confirmed the man was 24-year-old Kaddour-Cherif and that they believed he had links to Tower Hamlets and Westminster in London.

In a statement about the search operation, the Met Police said he had been convicted in November 2024 for indecent exposure relating to an incident that occurred in March of the same year. He was sentenced to an 18-month community order and placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

Kaddour-Cherif is believed to have entered the UK legally on a visitor visa in 2019 but overstayed his visa, leading to a case being opened against him as a "potential overstayer" in 2020. In response to the Prime Minister's questions, James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary standing in for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, repeatedly asked the same question which Lammy did not answer, and instead attacked the Conservative government's record on prisons. Later, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “When entering the House of Commons, the facts surrounding the case were still emerging and the Deputy Prime Minister had not been given accurate information on key details, including the offender’s immigration status.

“The Deputy Prime Minister waited until PMQs and other facts had emerged before making a statement.”

Following the Met Police’s announcement of Kaddour-Cherif’s mistaken release, Lammy issued a statement saying he was “extremely angry and appalled”.

“Victims deserve better and the public deserve answers.”

“That is why I have introduced the toughest rules ever to clamp down on such failures and ordered an independent investigation led by Dame Lyn Owen to find out what went wrong and address the increase in accidental releases, which has been ongoing for some time.”

Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It is shocking that yet again a Labour government has mistakenly allowed a foreign national offender to be released from prison.”

“This makes a mockery of Lammy’s claims at PMQs that he had introduced ‘the toughest rules ever’ on releases.”

Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller demanded “a full explanation” of how this had happened again.

Reform UK said it was “seriously concerned that the Deputy Prime Minister inadvertently misled the House of Commons”.

Labour MP and chair of the Justice Select Committee, Andrew Slaughter, said the prison system was “struggling with a lack of investment” and facing “overcrowding and understaffing in a crumbling prison estate plagued by chaos and instability”.

Hours after the Met Police announcement, Surrey Police revealed that another man – William Smith – had also been mistakenly released from Wandsworth Prison last week.

In a Facebook post, Surrey Police said Smith had been released on Monday. He was sentenced to 45 months for "multiple fraud offenses," but was released later the same day.

The court rectified the error, but the amendment was sent to the wrong person.

Police say Smith is described as white, bald, and clean-shaven. They added: "Smith was last seen wearing a white and navy blue long-sleeved sweater with a Nike 'tick' on the front, a navy blue tracksuit with a white Nike 'tick' on the left pocket, and black trainers."

Police urged anyone with information to come forward.

According to the latest figures, approximately 262 prisoners were mistakenly released in England and Wales in the year to March 2025, a 128% increase on the 115 released the previous year.

Security in prisons has been a major concern for some time. A report last year found chaos in prison wings, with staff in most units unable to account for all their prisoners during the working day.