David Lammy admits 12 more prisoners freed by mistake in last 3 weeks | Politics | News
David Lammy has confirmed to Parliament that a further 12 prisoners have been mistakenly released since his last update less than three weeks ago, with two prisoners still at large, as the mistaken early release crisis in England and Wales continues. Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday morning, Justice Secretary Mr Lammy admitted the latest errors occurred in the period following his statement to the House of Commons on 12 November.
The admissions come amid growing criticism of the Ministry of Justice following a series of high-profile cases, including the mistaken release of Epping sex offender Hadush Kebatu in October and the subsequent mistaken release of an Algerian sex offender and a fraudster from HMP Wandsworth. Official figures published last month revealed 91 prisoners were mistakenly released between April 1 and October 31 this year; This means an average of three prisoners every week.
David Lammy told BBC Breakfast this morning after appearing on Sky News: “I said to Parliament a few weeks ago, I published the data at that point and there were 91 miscasts up to that point, there have been 12 since then, two of which are currently at large.”
He said he was “pleased that the trend was downward” after making some improvements to the system.
He was later pushed above the bearish trend point by Emma Barnett during a brief clash on Radio 4’s Today programme.
Asked whether his claim was true, Mr Lammy said: “Please let me finish this.”
“You’re not answering my question,” said Miss Barnett, then snapped: “If you’ll let me finish. I also said you had to be careful about this, because it’s a paper-based system. We have junior officers doing this job.”
“I am still waiting for Dame Lynn Owens to report and act on her recommendations and there are still errors in the system.”
The revelations emerged just hours before Mr Lammy is due to deliver a major speech on clearing the court’s backlog, which is expected to impose significant restrictions on the use of jury trials for less serious offences.
Appearing earlier on BBC Breakfast, the Justice Secretary stressed that juries remain “fundamental” to the justice system but suggested changes were needed to avoid delays in rape and murder trials.
He said: “I want to be absolutely clear, juries remain fundamental to our system. But should we be asking our judges to handle more cases? That’s one of the questions I’m exploring and I’ll be answering this afternoon.”
Mr Lammy highlighted so-called “triable both ways” offenses, which currently allow defendants to opt for a Crown Court jury trial even if the maximum penalty is relatively low.
He explained: “There are a group of cases where you can get a prison sentence of up to five years. Generally speaking, these are called trials-both-way cases and are also cases where the defendant can choose to have a jury. What I mean by that is, if you steal an iPhone from Currys this afternoon, should you be able to choose to have a jury? The trial could take two days and this will inevitably cause further delays for more serious and egregious crimes such as rape or murder.”
The Justice Minister said he would expand judges’ sentencing powers and reconsider whether defendants should automatically retain the right to a jury trial in certain cases.
Victim groups have previously expressed concern over prison release errors. Hadush Kebatu’s 14-year-old victim said she was “very scared and very worried” after learning she had been released by mistake.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Once again dangerous criminals are walking the streets because of Labour’s incompetence. The public deserve much better than this catalog of failures.”
The Ministry of Justice has refused to provide details of the two most recent false statements, citing ongoing police efforts to locate the individuals.
A spokesman said: “We are urgently investigating these incidents and have already introduced additional checks to prevent further errors being made.”
Mr Lammy is expected to publish a white paper on court reform later on Tuesday.
