An Albanian drug dealer, who was freed from prison in error in August 2024, has been on the run for 15 months. The criminal was serving time for a Class B drug offence, but is one of at least three offenders who were mistakenly let out and remain at large. The revelations came as Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy spoke before MPs for the first time about the issue after previously dodging questioning on the topic last Wednesday.
The other two prisoners on the run are British: one was locked up for aggravated burglary and was accidentally released in June, and the other, who was in prison for failing to surrender to police, was erroneously let out in December last year. Mr Lammy, the Justice Secretary, told the Commons that 353 prisoners have been released by mistake between April 1, 2024 and October 31.
In another humiliating blow to Labour, Mr Lammy admitted that officials were unsure if a prisoner was or was not let out in error on November 3 due to the chaotic release system.
The Deputy Prime Minister told MPs: “I’ve been informed this afternoon that HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) are investigating a further case of a potential release in error on 3 November, who may still be at large.”
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick pushed for the release of the latest prisoner data, which show that 91 inmates were let out in error between April and October of this year.
Mr Jenrick said: “The public are being endangered as this circus rumbles on week after week, with no end in sight. As we all suspected, the crisis on his government’s watch is even bigger than he dared admit. That’s why he wouldn’t say anything last week.”
A Downing Street spokesman said the figures were “symptomatic of a system that the Government inherited, of a prison system under severe strain, a failing criminal justice system”.
The news comes after Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was freed accidentally. The 41-year-old has now been deported after a 48-hour manhunt for the migrant, who committed sexual offences against a 14-year-old girl and a woman just days after arriving in Britain illegally.
Following this, two other prisoners were released by mistake, one of whom was Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif. The 24-year-old was let out of HMP Wandsworth due to communication issues between prisons.
Mr Lammy told MPs: “I give an unequivocal apology to all who have faced worry, or worse as a result of releases in error.”
In response to the prison crisis, the Justice Secretary has set up a justice performance board and has asked former police chief Dame Lynne to extend her inquiry into the adequacy of data collected and published on releases in error.
Labour has also allocated £10million to develop an artificial intelligence system that will digitise the current paper release procedure.