Mistakenly launched prisoner fingers himself in as David Lammy faces contemporary strain over dealing with of fiasco | EUROtoday

One of the prisoners mistakenly launched from HMP Wandsworth handed himself in amid mounting strain on David Lammy over his dealing with of the fiasco, because the hunt continues for a registered intercourse offender who continues to be at giant.

Billy Smith, 35, was pictured grinning on Thursday morning as he gave himself up three days after being launched in error, having been sentenced to 45 months for a number of fraud offences. Wearing a tracksuit, the felony was filmed hugging his accomplice and having fun with a cigarette on the jail steps earlier than turning himself in.

The newest blunders had been blamed on clerical errors in a system underneath “relentless strain”.

Meanwhile, the justice secretary insisted he was “not equipped with all of the detail” when he appeared at PMQs on Wednesday and repeatedly did not reply questions on whether or not there had been one other mistaken launch since Epping resort migrant Hadush Kebatu was wrongly freed final month.

Speaking as builders broke floor at a brand new 1,700-cell jail in Leicester, Mr Lammy stated: “I first found out about this on Wednesday morning. I was in the department, both learning from officials, but also preparing for Prime Minister’s Questions.

“At the despatch box, I did not have all of the detail. That detail was actually released just later, after I had finished at Prime Minister’s Questions. I took the judgement that it is important when updating the House and the country about serious matters like this, that you have all of the detail.

“I was not equipped with all of the detail. And the danger is that you end up misleading the House and the general public. So that is the judgement I took. I think it’s the right judgement.”

His feedback come regardless of journalists beforehand being knowledgeable that Mr Lammy had been instructed concerning the launch in a single day on Tuesday.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer defended Mr Lammy in opposition to criticism over his dealing with of the mistaken prisoner releases, saying it was “right” that the justice secretary was “setting out the facts to the best of his knowledge”.

Speaking to broadcasters from the Cop30 summit in Brazil, Sir Keir stated he was “angry and frustrated” by “intolerable” wrongful prisoner releases

Meanwhile, a police manhunt continues for Algerian intercourse offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, who was mistakenly launched from the identical jail on 29 October.

He was serving a sentence for trespass with intent to steal, however had beforehand additionally been convicted for indecent publicity.

Former HM chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick instructed the BBC that there’s a “longstanding problem” of mistaken jail releases, however blamed the federal government’s early launch scheme for the newest blunders.

He claimed the system “caused confusion in the bits of the prison service that are supposed to calculate how long someone is supposed to spend in prison”.

The Prison Officers’ Association stated employees have been underneath immense strain to recalculate sentences within the wake of a number of early launch schemes to ease overcrowding lately.

The Labour authorities launched a scheme in 2024 which allowed some offenders to be freed after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, somewhat than 50 per cent. It adopted the Tories’ End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) scheme, which freed some prisoners 35 or 70 days early.

National chair Mark Fairhurst stated the errors at Wandsworth had been the results of “clerical errors”, including: “The Prison Officers’ Association has repeatedly warned of the mounting pressures on staff and the outdated administrative systems across our prisons.

“It has taken far too long for senior leaders and politicians to acknowledge these issues and take meaningful action.

“Prisons throughout the country are underfunded, understaffed and operating under relentless strain. Dedicated staff are doing their utmost, but too often they are left without the proper support, training or technology to do their jobs safely and effectively.”

A complete of 262 prisoners had been launched in error within the 12 months to March 2025, up from 115 the earlier 12 months. Over the previous decade, the variety of wrongful releases has soared by 434 per cent, from simply 49 within the 12 months ending March 2015.

In a press release launched as jail governors had been referred to as in for emergency conferences with ministers, the Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) stated mistaken releases are “neither rare nor hidden”, however agreed the dimensions of them was “deeply concerning”.

It stated 0.5 per cent of prisoners are usually not launched on the proper date.

“While that may appear to be a small percentage, in a system managing tens of thousands of releases and transfers each quarter, it does represent a significant operational failure,” a spokesperson added.

They stated the rise in errors displays a system underneath “unprecedented and sustained pressure” as they hit out at politicians who “showboat and grandstand” over the disaster.

“Successive governments have accepted this level of risk for decades,” the PGA added. “In that context, it feels disingenuous to see politicians attempt to extract political gain from a prison system in crisis.”

Its considerations had been echoed by the Law Society, which stated it’s “no surprise” the justice system is failing after “decades of neglect”.

Vice-president Brett Dixon added: “The chaos in our prisons reflects the wider crisis across the criminal justice system.

“The crisis will not be addressed by politicians seeking easy headlines. It is the result of poor decisions from successive governments.”

Tory chief Kemi Badenoch stated there was an “explosion in accidental prisoner releases” and blasted Mr Lammy’s dealing with of the disaster as an “embarrassment”.

Speaking on a go to to JCB Academy, she stated: “We know that mistakes happen from time to time. What we have seen now is an explosion in accidental prisoner releases, many of them foreign criminals, many of them sex offenders. This should not be happening.

“We know that there will always be times when mistakes occur, but the scale at which it is happening is causing real worry, and what we saw yesterday with David Lammy unable to answer very simple questions was an embarrassment.”

The shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick claimed he had no confidence in Mr Lammy, describing his dealing with of questions at PMQs as “a disgrace”.

“The justice secretary is informed about this on Tuesday night, [and] didn’t come clean,” Mr Jenrick instructed BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“I think it’s a disgrace. It’s a total dereliction of duty.”

The mistaken releases from HMP Wandsworth come simply weeks after migrant intercourse offender Hadush Kebatu was wrongly free of an Essex jail.

In response, Mr Lammy launched an impartial inquiry and vowed to usher in harder checks on prisoners being launched.

Kebatu’s crimes sparked a wave of protests at motels housing asylum seekers this summer time after he sexually assaulted a lady and a 14-year-old woman whereas he was dwelling on the Bell Hotel in Epping.