The Latest Breaking News from Shabana Mahmood

It is the most serious offence alleged to have been committed by someone released under the scheme, which was implemented to cut prison overcrowding.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had previously been imprisoned for knife offences and was released due to prison overcrowding

A convicted sex offender has been deported from Britain to Ethiopia after being accidentally released from prison. Following a national manhunt, home secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed that Hadush Kebatu – an asylum seeker who came to the UK without authorisation on a small boat – would be returned to his…

Some 38,042 inmates had been freed as of the end of June this year, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The prisoner early release scheme was launched as an emergency measure last September

Home Office horror: Convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu paid £500 post-mistaken release in migrant deportation scandal. Political fury over taxpayer waste, Epping assaults echo

THE INDEPENDENT VIEW: Editorial: As crisis after crisis piles up for new home secretary Shabana Mahmood, she must have the full backing of her PM and chancellor to do whatever it takes to restore public confidence in the system

Hadush Kebatu, who was wrongly freed from prison instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre, was given the money after threatening to disrupt his deportation to Ethiopia

Lib Dems say ECHR protects ‘our elderly and most vulnerable…the very people who need it most’

Some 21,858 visits were recorded in the 12 months to September this year, the highest since comparable records began in 2011.

Across the UK, 8,000 illegal migrants were arrested by Immigration Enforcement from October 2024 to September 2025.