An independent investigation into how a sex offender was wrongly set free instead of being deported will be launched and report its findings within weeks, justice secretary David Lammy has announced.
Dame Lynne Owens, a former deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and ex-director general of the National Crime Agency, will look into what went wrong and make recommendations to stop similar cases, Mr Lammy told MPs.
Police had to urgently hunt for Hadush Kebatu over the weekend after he was set free from HMP Chelmsford in a blunder that sparked widespread anger.
The Ethiopian national was jailed for 12 months in September for sexually assaulting a teenage girl, but on Friday he was wrongly released instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.
The deputy prime minister and justice secretary said Dame Lynne would establish the facts of Kebatu's release and whether staff had enough experience, training and technology, and would also talk to his victims to understand the effect of the mistake on them.
“Her report will highlight points of failure and make recommendations to help prevent further releases in error, which have been rising year on year since 2021 - going from nine per month on average in 2023, to 17 per month in the period spanning January to June 2024,” Mr Lammy said.
The investigation would have the same status as those into other prison incidents, including the attack on three prison officers at HMP Frankland in April and the escape of Daniel Khalife from HMP Wandsworth in 2023, he pledged.
He said the mistake was due to what appeared to be human error – and that there were national security considerations.
Release checks would also be tightened and in future, foreign prisoners being deported would now be discharged only when the duty governor was physically present, Mr Lammy announced.
Blaming a 24 per cent real-terms cut in prison funding under the previous government, he said there were 800 releases in error under the Conservatives, with no full independent investigations.
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"I am livid on behalf of the victims and the public that this mistake was allowed to happen,” he said.
Kebatu was on his way to being deported, Mr Lammy told MPs.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said Kebatu’s mistaken release was a national embarrassment since the offender had asked five times to be deported.
Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said prisoners being released early, in error or even late was now an “endemic problem”.
According to government figures, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March – a 128 per cent increase on the previous 12 months, during which 115 were wrongly set free.
The government says it is building 14,000 more prison places and reforming sentencing to tackle overcrowding.
