The United Kingdom's justice system is facing a severe crisis after it was revealed that nearly 100 prisoners were mistakenly released from custody in just seven months, with three inmates, including one convicted of aggravated burglary, still at large. The shocking data was confirmed by the UK’s Justice Secretary, David Lammy.
According to a statement made to MPs by Lammy, 91 prisoners were wrongly freed between April 1 and October 31, 2024. Lammy described the figure as “symptomatic of a prison system under horrendous strain.” He confirmed that three of the mistakenly released prisoners have not been recaptured, revealing a major public safety concern.
The fugitives still on the run include:
A prisoner serving time for a Class B drug offence, mistakenly freed in August 2024.
An inmate jailed for failing to surrender to police, released in December 2023.
A third offender serving a sentence for aggravated burglary, wrongly released in June 2024.
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Lammy, who also serves as Deputy Prime Minister, expressed his alarm and outlined a plan to address the failures. “I’m clear that we must bear down on these numbers,” he stated. “We are putting in new guardrails around an archaic system, with tougher new checks, reviewing specific failings and modernising prison processes and joint working with courts.”
To combat the administrative blunders, the government announced an investment of up to £10 million over six months in AI systems and new technologies designed to prevent such dangerous errors.
This scandal follows a string of high-profile mistaken releases that have caused national outrage. These include Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, an Algerian offender recaptured after a member of the public spotted him, and Hadush Kebatu, a s3x offender mistakenly freed from HMP Chelmsford. In another case, William “Billy” Smith turned himself in after being wrongly let out.
However, prison officers speaking to Metro claim the government's solution doesn't address the root cause. One officer pointed to systemic issues, stating, “It’s a Category B jail... and they are so understaffed. It’s just part of a wider issue of prison funding.”
This internal criticism suggests that chronic underfunding, staff shortages, and extreme overcrowding are the primary drivers of these embarrassing and dangerous errors, raising questions about whether technological fixes alone can resolve the deep-seated problems plaguing the UK's prison system.
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