Two more prisoners on run after being released from jail by mistake in fresh crisis for Labour
A prisoner illegally in the UK is wanted by police after a major mistake saw an asylum sex offender mistakenly released from prison just weeks after he was on Britain’s streets.
In a new crisis for Sir Keir Starmer’s government, it emerged today that 24-year-old sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif had been released by mistake – this time from scandal-ridden HMP Wandsworth in London.
The news comes after deputy prime minister David Lammy repeatedly failed to answer questions in the House of Commons about whether there had been another mistaken release since Epping hotel migrant Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly released last month.
The justice secretary later admitted that he had been tipped off about the error the night before, as Ministry of Justice officials scrambled to locate the Algerian national, who was serving a sentence in a south-west London prison for trespass for theft but had previously been convicted of indecent exposure.
The debate deepened for the Labor Party when it was revealed that a second prisoner, who had been subject to special measures last year, was mistakenly released from the same prison. Surrey Police are currently hunting for Billy Smith, 35, who was mistakenly released on Monday and has been linked to the Woking area. Police said he was sentenced to 45 months in prison for multiple fraud charges.
The Conservatives hit out at what they described as a “full-blown crisis”, accusing Mr Lammy of trying to “hide the truth” and demanding to know how many prisoners had been accidentally released and how many were still at large.
Kaddour-Cherif is understood to have entered the UK legally on a visit visa in 2019, but has overstayed there and is in the early stages of deportation. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.
The Metropolitan Police said the offender had a “six day head start” after being released from a medium security prison last Wednesday, but police were only notified at 1pm on Tuesday.
Police released images of the attacker and appealed for help from the public to capture the suspect.
Commander Paul Trevers said: “It has been just over 24 hours since we received information that Cherif had been released. We immediately launched a manhunt and urgent investigations have been ongoing since.”
“Cherif has a six-day advantage but we are working urgently to close the gap and identify his whereabouts.”
No 10 appeared caught off guard by the new crisis, as he faced questions about who knew what and when over the fiasco at the briefing after Wednesday’s PMQs.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters “one false statement is too many”, noting the Dame Lynne Owens-led review announced last month following the accidental release of migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu.
He was deported to Ethiopia last week after being recaptured following a two-day manhunt.
Kebatu’s crimes sparked a wave of protests at hotels housing asylum seekers this summer after he sexually assaulted a woman and a 14-year-old girl while living in a hotel for asylum seekers in Epping.
In response, Mr Lammy launched an independent investigation and promised tighter controls on released prisoners.
It is understood Mr Lammy learned of the latest erroneous release on Tuesday night but refused to answer questions about whether other asylum seekers had been released by mistake four times during a heated debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said: “This is an absolute crisis. The justice secretary can no longer hide the truth. How many prisoners were accidentally released? And how many are still at large?”
Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp also described the erroneous discharge as “shocking” and said it “makes a mockery” of Mr Lammy’s claim to have introduced the “strongest ever controls” on evictions in PMQs.
According to reports, Mr Lammy had a prepared statement in case the accidental release was discovered during PMQs, but he did not want to pre-empt a statement from the police. But sources said Times He said the Met Police would have no problem confirming the minister had been wrongfully released.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, shadow defense secretary James Cartlidge asked Mr Lammy: “I want to ask him another very important question – can he reassure the House that no other asylum seeker criminals have accidentally been released from prison since Kebatu was released?”
Mr Lammy refused to confirm this and harshly criticized the justice system the government had inherited from the Conservatives.
He replied: “Let me remind him that it is the minister of justice who allowed our prisons to get into this situation in the first place, and it is now up to us to fix the mess we have fallen into.”
Mr Cartlidge then repeated his question. He said: “He is the minister of justice. He is responsible for the justice system. He must take responsibility.
“And for the avoidance of doubt, I’ll repeat this one more time because he didn’t answer twice.
“Can he reassure the House that no other asylum-seeking criminals have accidentally been released from prison since Kebatu’s release?”
Mr Lammy told him to “pull himself together”.
Sources said Mr Lammy believed it would be irresponsible to speak in Parliament about the mistaken release of a second foreign prisoner while details were still emerging.
In a statement following the disastrous PMQs below, Mr Lammy said: “The victims deserve better and the public deserve 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 rise in accidental releases that has persisted for too long.”
The scandal emerged after a total of 262 people were mistakenly released from prisons in England and Wales by March 2025, according to official figures.
Wandsworth Prison was placed on urgent notification last year and chief inspector Charlie Taylor warned that “systemic and cultural failings” at the prison were due to “poor leadership at all levels”.
Terrorism suspect Daniel Khalife managed to escape from a category B medium security prison in 2023 by tying himself to the underside of a food delivery van.
