Police launch manhunt after another foreign prisoner mistakenly released from jail
Police have begun a manhunt after another foreign inmate was erroneously released from custody, prompting Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy to say he was "absolutely outraged."
The released man, 24-year-old Algerian citizen Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, was mistakenly set free from HMP Wandsworth in southwest London on October 29. Authorities reported the error to the Metropolitan Police only on Tuesday. Kaddour-Cherif was serving time for trespassing with intent to steal and had prior convictions for indecent exposure, according to officials.
This incident follows a similar case involving migrant Hadush Kebatu, who was wrongly released from HMP Chelmsford on October 24 after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Epping.
Government reaction and parliamentary tension
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Justice Secretary David Lammy, temporarily standing in while Sir Keir Starmer attends Cop30 in Brazil, declined five times to confirm whether other asylum seekers had also been mistakenly released.
"I want to ask him a further very important question – can he reassure the House that since Kebatu was released, no other asylum-seeking offender has been accidentally let out of prison?" — James Cartlidge
Lammy, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, did not provide confirmation and criticized what he described as the mismanaged justice system inherited from the previous Conservative government.
Summary
Another mistaken prisoner release in the UK has sparked outrage and renewed criticism of systemic failures within the justice system, intensifying political pressure on the government.