Ministry of Justice issues bizarre new statement in David Lammy prison row | Politics | News
David Lammy’s team have strangely slammed the Conservative Party for its bungled handling of the illegal immigrant sex offender scandal.
The Ministry of Justice claimed on Wednesday that “the crisis in the prison system the government has inherited is such that basic information” may be difficult to obtain.
It comes after the Deputy Prime Minister refused five times to say whether an asylum seeker had been released from prison by mistake.
A massive manhunt was underway on Wednesday night after it emerged that 24-year-old Algerian Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was mistakenly released a week ago.
The “shocking” gaffe came just days after the sexually assaulting asylum seeker was freed, prompting warnings that the fugitive was a “danger to the public”.
The Daily Express understands Kaddour-Cherif was living in the UK illegally after overstaying his visitor visa. He is not a refugee.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said late on Wednesday night: “The crisis in the prison system that this government has inherited means that basic information about individual cases can take an unacceptably long time to reach Ministers.
“At the time of entering the House, the facts of the case were still emerging and the DPM had not been properly briefed on key details, including the immigration status of the offender. “No media coverage of the individual case had yet been made public and it was and remains the subject of a live police investigation.
“The DPM was asked questions about the release of an asylum seeker. As confirmed by the Home Office following PMQs, this person was not an asylum seeker.
“DPM waited until the PMQs and other facts emerged before making a statement.”
He was serving a sentence for trespassing with intent to steal, but had previously been convicted of indecent exposure.
The Algerian was released from HMP Wandsworth in London on October 29, but the error was only reported to the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday.
This follows the mistaken release of migrant Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford on October 24.
Meanwhile, Surrey Police are hunting for another prisoner, Billy Smith, 35, who was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth on Monday.
He was accidentally sentenced to 45 months in prison for multiple fraud charges on the same day he was released.
A spokesman for the Met said: “Shortly after 1pm on Tuesday 4 November the Met was informed by the Prison Service that a prisoner had been released from HMP Wandsworth in error on Wednesday 29 October.
“The prisoner is a 24-year-old Algerian man.
“Officers are conducting an urgent investigation to locate and take him into custody.”
It is not clear why the prison service did not alert police for six days or why Justice Secretary Mr Lammy refused to respond five times despite knowing in advance during Prime Minister’s Questions, where he appeared in place of Sir Keir Starmer.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “This is another mess under the watchful eye of Calamity Lammy.
“Accidental releases of prisoners have more than doubled under this Government and David Lammy has no idea what is going on.
“The British public are being endangered again and again by the sheer incompetence of the Government.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It is shocking that the Labor government has once again mistakenly allowed a foreign criminal to be released from prison.
“The Algerian attacker has reportedly been previously convicted of sexual assault and clearly poses a danger to the public.”
Kaddour-Cherif arrived in the UK on a visitor visa in 2019 and is currently in the early stages of the deportation process.
The mistake is the latest controversy to affect HMP Wandsworth, the prison where ex-soldier Daniel Khalife made his high-profile escape and where female prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu was filmed having sex with an inmate.
It also marks another humiliating blow to the Government, which is still recovering from the impact of Kebatu’s mistaken release from prison.
The Ethiopian man, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, Essex, was mistakenly released on October 24 before being arrested three days later in Finsbury Park, north London.
Kebatu, whose crimes sparked protests in front of the refugee hotel where he was staying and across the country, was deported to his country last Tuesday.
He was paid £500 from taxpayers after threatening to prevent his dismissal.
Just two days before the Algerian prisoner was released, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister David Lammy had promised to increase checks on prisoners released following the nationwide manhunt for Kebatu.
He is understood to have information about the second prisoner who was mistakenly released, but during Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday he refused to answer five times about whether any other asylum seekers had been mistakenly released since Kebatu.
Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge, who replaced Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch in the House of Commons, repeatedly asked Mr Lammy about other asylum-seeking prisoners who had been released.
Mr Cartlidge said at the end of the session that he had read reports of the escape of the Algerian prisoner.
He then asked another question on social media: “Now that we know the answer to my question… Can you tell me when you know and when you plan to tell the rest of us?”
It is understood the Conservative Party became aware of this blunder 15 minutes before PMQ MPs were due to start.
Downing Street said it first became aware of the error when the PMQs were finally announced.
Mr Lammy later issued a statement saying he was “absolutely outraged and appalled” by the mistake and blamed the Conservatives for the system Labor had inherited.
Mr Lammy said: “I am absolutely outraged and appalled by the mistaken release of a foreign criminal wanted by the police.
“The Metropolitan Police are leading an immediate manhunt and my officers are working through the night to bring him back to prison.”
He added: “Victims deserve better, the public deserves answers.
“That is why I have launched the strongest ever controls to prevent such failures and ordered an independent investigation, led by Dame Lynne Owens, to uncover what went wrong and address the surge in accidental releases that has persisted for too long.
“This latest incident exposes deeper flaws in the failed criminal justice system we inherited.
“Dame Lynne Owens’ investigation will leave no stone unturned to identify these issues so we can fix them, improve safeguards and ensure the public is appropriately protected.”
On Monday last week – October 27 – following the Kebatu scandal, Mr Lammy told MPs the Prison Service was “taking steps to make these processes more robust”.
Mr Lammy added: “These are the strongest release controls ever put in place. They will apply to every release from custody and come into effect immediately.”
Kaddour-Cherif was in prison for breaking into the Royal Society of Letters at Somerset House on the Strand in September 2023.
He also had previous convictions for a sexual offense for exposing himself to a woman at Lloyd Park in Walthamstow, east London – not far from his address in Tower Hamlets – in March 2024.
Kaddour-Cherif had previously been charged with a number of other offences, including possession of a knife, handling stolen goods and other theft offences.
According to Government figures published in July, 262 prisoners were mistakenly released by March 2025; a 128% increase from 115 inmates in the previous 12 months.
