A sex offender who was in Britain illegally is being hunted by police after he was accidentally released from jail just days after a similar blunder left an asylum seeker on the streets.
In a fresh crisis for Sir Keir Starmer’s government, it emerged that Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, had been wrongly freed from scandal-hit HMP Wandsworth in London.
It came moments after deputy prime minister David Lammy repeatedly failed to answer questions in the Commons on whether there had been another mistaken release since Epping hotel migrant Hadush Kebatu was wrongly freed last month.
The justice secretary later admitted he had been informed on Tuesday night of the hunt for the Algerian national, who is serving a sentence for trespass with intent to steal, but has previously also been convicted for indecent exposure.
It then emerged that another inmate had been wrongly freed from the same prison. Surrey Police are now hunting for Billy Smith, 35, who is linked to the Woking area. He was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences, the force said.
The Conservatives hit out at what they described as a “full-blown crisis” as they accused Mr Lammy of trying to “hide the truth” and demanded to know how many prisoners had been accidentally released and how many were still at large.
Kaddour-Cherif is understood to have entered the UK legally on a visit visa in 2019, but overstayed and was in the early stages of the deportation process. He was sentenced to an 18-month community order and placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.
The Metropolitan Police said the criminal had a “six-day head start” after he was freed from the medium security jail last Wednesday, but the force was only informed at 1pm on Tuesday.
The force released footage of the offender and appealed for the public’s help to track him down.
Commander Paul Trevers said: “It is just over 24 hours since we were informed of Cherif’s release. We launched an immediate manhunt and urgent enquiries have been ongoing since.
“Cherif has had a six-day head start but we are working urgently to close the gap and establish his whereabouts.”
No 10 appeared to have been caught off guard by the fresh crisis as they faced questions about who knew what and when over the fiasco at a briefing following PMQs on Wednesday.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson told reporters “one mistaken release is one too many” and pointed to the review – led by Dame Lynne Owens – that was announced following the accidental release of migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu last month.
He was deported last week to Ethiopia after he was recaptured following a two-day manhunt.
Kebatu’s crimes sparked a wave a protests at hotels housing asylum seekers this summer after he sexually assaulted a woman and a 14-year-old girl while he was living at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping.
In response, Mr Lammy launched an independent inquiry and vowed to bring in tougher checks on prisoners being released.
It is understood Mr Lammy found out about the latest mistaken release overnight on Tuesday, but refused to answer questions over whether other asylum seekers had been released in error four times in a heated exchange in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said: “This is a full-blown crisis. The justice secretary can’t hide the truth any longer. How many prisoners have been accidentally released? And how many are still at large?”
Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp also described the mistaken release as “shocking” and said it “makes a mockery” of Mr Lammy’s claim at PMQs to have introduced the “strongest-ever checks” on releases.
Mr Lammy had a pre-prepared statement in the event that the accidental release was revealed during PMQs, according to reports, but did not want to pre-empt a statement from the police. However, sources told The Times that the Met Police would have had no issue with the minister confirming that he had been wrongly freed.
During Prime Minister’s Questions shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge asked Mr Lammy: “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?”
Mr Lammy refused to say, but replied: “Let me just remind him that he was a justice minister that allowed our prisons to get to this state in the first place and it’s now for us to fix the mess that we’ve got into.”
Mr Cartlidge repeated his question, but Mr Lammy shout at him to “get a grip”.
Sources said Mr Lammy believed it would have been irresponsible to talk about the latest blunder in parliament while details were still emerging.
In a later statement, he said: “Victims deserve better and the public deserve answers. That is why I have already brought in the strongest checks ever to clamp down on such failures and ordered an independent investigation, led by Dame Lynne Owens, to uncover what went wrong and address the rise in accidental releases which has persisted for too long.”
The scandal comes after a total of 262 people were released in error from prisons in England and Wales in the year to March 2025, according to official figures.
HMP Wandsworth was subject to an urgent notification last year, with chief inspector Charlie Taylor warning that “systemic and cultural failures” at the prison stemmed from “poor leadership at every level”.
In 2023, terror suspect Daniel Khalife managed to escape from the category B medium security jail by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery van.
