Algerian sex offender and a fraudster released by Wandsworth jail, days after new checks brought in
David Lammy, the UK justice secretary, is under mounting pressure after two more prisoners, including a convicted foreign sex offender, were mistakenly freed, days after he introduced stringent checks for jails.
Lammy had refused multiple times to say whether any more prisoners had been released in error in a bruising session of prime minister’s questions, having been ambushed with a string of pre-planned questions on the issue.
Almost immediately after the exchange it was revealed that Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian who had overstayed his visa, had been wrongly released from Wandsworth prison in south London last Wednesday, with the Metropolitan police informed only on Tuesday.
The same prison also accidentally freed the fraudster William Smith, AKA Billy, 35. Described as white, bald and clean-shaven, he was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences on Monday and freed in error the same day.
The latest errors come just weeks after Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was accidentally freed from Chelmsford prison despite convictions for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman days after arriving in the UK in a small boat.
Lammy had ordered five pages of new checks for prison governors after the release of Kebatu, who was supposed to have been removed to an immigration detention centre. He was arrested in north London and deported after being given a £500 discretionary payment.
The Guardian understands that Cherif was in prison for trespass with intent to steal but was convicted in November 2024 of indecent exposure linked to an incident in March of the same year. He was sentenced to an 18-month community order.
Cherif is understood to have entered the UK legally on a visitors’ visa in 2019 but overstayed. An “automatic probable overstayer” case was created by the Home Office in February 2020 and he is, sources say, in the initial stages of the deportation process. Questions will be raised as to why he was not removed from the UK five years ago after overstaying his visa.
The Met was informed of Cherif’s release shortly after 1pm on Tuesday, giving him a six-day head start. He has links to the Tower Hamlets area, but is also known to frequent the Westminster area.
A Met spokesperson said: “Shortly after 1300hrs on Tuesday 4 November, the Met was informed by the Prison Service that a prisoner had been released in error from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday 29 October.”
Surrey police, meanwhile, put out an appeal to find Smith. He had appeared in Croydon crown court via a live video link from HMP Wandsworth, before being released in error.
The Prison Service is examining the possibility that officers did not have a warrant to hold the men in custody. There has been an increasing number of cases in which prisoners are being moved between jails and courts and warrants are being lost and misplaced in the process. This forces prison staff to allow prisoners to walk free.
Downing Street said Cherif was “a concerning case”, with Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson adding: “It’s unacceptable, and the circumstances behind it will be forensically looked at … It’s clearly a developing situation, and it’s important to establish the facts.”
The spokesperson said: “One mistaken release is too many, as we saw in the Kebatu case. That is why we’ve ordered the review led by Lynne Owens. I think it’s fair to assume that this case will form part of that review.”
The Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan, whose constituency includes Wandsworth prison, said after hearing of Cherif’s release: “I’m horrified to learn that someone was mistakenly released from Wandsworth prison.
“Local residents will quite rightly be deeply concerned. We urgently need answers from the government and Ministry of Justice as to how this was allowed to happen.”
In tense Commons exchanges, the Tory frontbencher James Cartlidge, standing in for Kemi Badenoch at prime minster’s questions, clashed with Lammy, who was standing in for the prime minister, who is in Brazil for the COP summit.
Cartlidge asked repeatedly whether any asylum-seeking offenders had been accidentally let out of prison since Kebatu. He is understood to have been aware of at least one release when he asked his questions.
He said: “He’s the justice secretary. He’s responsible for the justice system. He needs to take responsibility … Can he reassure the house that since Kebatu was released, no other asylum-seeking offender has been accidentally let out of prison?”
The Conservatives called on Lammy to return to the Commons to make a statement. A spokesperson said: “If we knew, we can only assume the justice secretary knew.”
The Prison Officers’ Association called for an “entire overhaul” of the sentencing calculation and discharging process and warned Lammy not to seek to blame individual officers for systemic failures.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/05/police-urgently-looking-for-prisoner-freed-by-mistake-in-london 
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2025 9:35 pm