Justice Secretary David Lammy is facing mounting pressure over a series of mistaken prisoner releases, with Labour peer Harriet Harman suggesting the crisis could become an opportunity to fix systemic failures within the department.
The controversy intensified this week after a convicted sex offender and a fraudster were accidentally freed from HMP Wandsworth within days of each other. Prison authorities released Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, an Algerian national convicted of sex offences, on 29 October and he remains at large. Fraudster William Smith was mistakenly freed on 3 November but surrendered on Thursday.
Harman sees "opportunity"
Speaking on Sky News' Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harman argued the mistakes have "shone a spotlight on a systemic problem which needs to be sorted out." She suggested Lammy could use the scrutiny to demand more resources: "I think ironically it's a bit of an opportunity for him to actually be able to roll up his sleeves and insist the department gets the resources and the focus it needs to sort out this problem, which is not a new problem."
Harman noted that "five a week, more or less being let out early" and warned "we don't even know if that is the full extent" of the problem.
Scale of the problem
Official figures show authorities mistakenly released 262 prisoners in the 12 months to March 2025, more than double the 115 released in error the previous year. The spike comes despite Lammy promising stronger prison checks on 27 October, following the mistaken release of migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford three days earlier.
Lammy defended his handling of the crisis, saying he did not want to mislead Parliament when he stood in for Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions.
He later told the Commons he was "not equipped with all the details" about Kaddour-Cherif's release when questioned. During the parliamentary exchange, he reportedly lost his temper and shouted "get a grip, man" at opposition MPs.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
