Twelve further prisoners mistakenly released, says David Lammy

Justice Minister David Lammy said 12 prisoners had been accidentally released in the last three weeks, two of whom were still at large.

This comes on top of 91 prisoners mistakenly released between April and October.

Speaking to the BBC, Lammy said there will always be “human error” when using a paper-based system in prisons and that the situation will improve when a “fully digital system” is adopted.

He said there had been a “sudden increase” in accidental releases, but added that it was now on a “downward trajectory.”

The issue of inadvertent release came to the fore after the inadvertent release of Hadush Kebatu, who was imprisoned after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman while living in an asylum hotel in Epping, and the government began to impose new checks on those released from prison.

The number of wrongfully released prisoners rose sharply last year, rising from 115 in 2023-2024 to 262 the following year.

Lammy acknowledged there had been a “surge” in numbers, adding: “I want to bring that down. We’ve got a mountain to climb.”

He said the problem was partly due to the system losing 6,000 civil servants under the previous Conservative government.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has previously blamed the rise in figures on “confusion created by Labour’s failed early release plan”.