Just nowShareSaveDoug FaulknerShareSaveNIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP via Getty ImagesManhunts are under way for two men who were mistakenly released from Wandsworth prison in London in the past week in separate incidents.Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian, who is a sex offender, was released in error last Wednesday.The second is William Smith, 35, who was jailed for fraud on Monday but then released later the same day.It comes after the accidental release of Hadush Kebatu, a migrant sex offender, last month at HMP Chelmsford.Here is what we know.How and why were the two prisoners released?We know very little at this stage about why or how Kaddour-Cherif was mistakenly released. The Metropolitan police were not told about the error for almost a week and it is unclear why this was the case. Multiple prison sources say the process of release is complex and bureaucratic, and sometimes errors are made, including in calculations over time served. As for Smith, the BBC understands he was released as a result of a clerical error at court level.He was given a custodial sentence but it was entered in the computer system as a suspended sentence.This was spotted and amended by the court but this correction was sent to the wrong person.Who is Brahim Kaddour-Cherif?Brahim Kaddour-Cherif is a 24-year-old Algerian man.The Met said he is a registered sex offender who was convicted of indecent exposure in November 2024, relating to an incident in March that year.He was given an 18-month community order and placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.He is believed to have links to Tower Hamlets and was also known to spend time in the Westminster area, the police said.Kaddour-Cherif is understood to have entered the UK legally on a visitor’s visa but has now overstayed that and was in the initial stages of the deportation process. He was not an asylum seeker.Metropolitan PoliceWho is William ‘Billy’ Smith?William Smith, who goes by Billy, was released on Monday, Surrey Police said.He was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences at Croydon Crown Court on Monday. He appeared via a live video link from HMP Wandsworth.Smith is described by police as white, bald, and clean shaven.He was last seen wearing a navy long sleeve jumper with the Nike brand ‘tick’ across the front in white, navy blue tracksuit bottoms with a Nike ‘tick’ in white on the left pocket, and black trainers.Smith has links to Woking but could be anywhere in Surrey, the force said.Surrey PoliceHow common are mistaken releases?There were 262 prisoners released in error in the year leading up to March 2025, according to the latest data for England and Wales. Of those, 233 were let go from prisons and 29 from courts.That is more than double the 115 mistaken releases the previous year.The prison service said in the report that “releases in error remain infrequent” and that the rise was linked to “a range of operational and legislative changes”.Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, told BBC Breakfast on Thursday that an average of 22 prisoners were being wrongly released each month.Why was the deputy PM under fire at PMQs over escaped prisoners?During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, standing in for Sir Keir Starmer, was repeatedly asked by shadow justice secretary James Cartlidge whether any further asylum-seekers who were offenders had accidentally been released from prison since Epping sex offender Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly let out last month.Lammy repeatedly refused to directly answer the question but towards the end of the session it emerged in the media that a prisoner had been mistakenly released. …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnJust nowShareSaveDoug FaulknerShareSaveNIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP via Getty ImagesManhunts are under way for two men who were mistakenly released from Wandsworth prison in London in the past week in separate incidents.Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian, who is a sex offender, was released in error last Wednesday.The second is William Smith, 35, who was jailed for fraud on Monday but then released later the same day.It comes after the accidental release of Hadush Kebatu, a migrant sex offender, last month at HMP Chelmsford.Here is what we know.How and why were the two prisoners released?We know very little at this stage about why or how Kaddour-Cherif was mistakenly released. The Metropolitan police were not told about the error for almost a week and it is unclear why this was the case. Multiple prison sources say the process of release is complex and bureaucratic, and sometimes errors are made, including in calculations over time served. As for Smith, the BBC understands he was released as a result of a clerical error at court level.He was given a custodial sentence but it was entered in the computer system as a suspended sentence.This was spotted and amended by the court but this correction was sent to the wrong person.Who is Brahim Kaddour-Cherif?Brahim Kaddour-Cherif is a 24-year-old Algerian man.The Met said he is a registered sex offender who was convicted of indecent exposure in November 2024, relating to an incident in March that year.He was given an 18-month community order and placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.He is believed to have links to Tower Hamlets and was also known to spend time in the Westminster area, the police said.Kaddour-Cherif is understood to have entered the UK legally on a visitor’s visa but has now overstayed that and was in the initial stages of the deportation process. He was not an asylum seeker.Metropolitan PoliceWho is William ‘Billy’ Smith?William Smith, who goes by Billy, was released on Monday, Surrey Police said.He was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences at Croydon Crown Court on Monday. He appeared via a live video link from HMP Wandsworth.Smith is described by police as white, bald, and clean shaven.He was last seen wearing a navy long sleeve jumper with the Nike brand ‘tick’ across the front in white, navy blue tracksuit bottoms with a Nike ‘tick’ in white on the left pocket, and black trainers.Smith has links to Woking but could be anywhere in Surrey, the force said.Surrey PoliceHow common are mistaken releases?There were 262 prisoners released in error in the year leading up to March 2025, according to the latest data for England and Wales. Of those, 233 were let go from prisons and 29 from courts.That is more than double the 115 mistaken releases the previous year.The prison service said in the report that “releases in error remain infrequent” and that the rise was linked to “a range of operational and legislative changes”.Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, told BBC Breakfast on Thursday that an average of 22 prisoners were being wrongly released each month.Why was the deputy PM under fire at PMQs over escaped prisoners?During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, standing in for Sir Keir Starmer, was repeatedly asked by shadow justice secretary James Cartlidge whether any further asylum-seekers who were offenders had accidentally been released from prison since Epping sex offender Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly let out last month.Lammy repeatedly refused to directly answer the question but towards the end of the session it emerged in the media that a prisoner had been mistakenly released. …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
