Lammy speaking to ‘best of his knowledge’ on prisoner release error – Starmer

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has defended his deputy David Lammy against criticism over his handling of a mistaken prisoner release by saying it was “right” the Justice Secretary was “setting out the facts to the best of his knowledge”.

Sir Keir said he was “angry and frustrated” by “intolerable” wrongful prisoner releases after it emerged this week that two men were accidentally freed from HMP Wandsworth.

Mr Lammy has faced scrutiny over his refusal to answer questions in the House of Commons about the release of Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, who is still on the run.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary is facing further questions after he said Kaddour-Cherif was mistakenly released before new checks were implemented, although he told MPs last Monday those checks were effective immediately, two days before the wrongful release on October 29.

Asked which version was true, Sir Keir told broadcasters in Brazil: “David Lammy can speak for himself on that.

“And I’m absolutely clear that he’s setting out the facts to the best of his knowledge, and that’s the right thing for him to do.

“But whatever the checks, it’s intolerable.

“So, we have to make sure that whatever changes are needed are made, and that’s why calling in the governors is really important.

“Looking for technology that we need is really important.

“Yes, there’s a huge burden on the prison service because of the failures of the last government, but we’ve now got to pick this up, roll up our sleeves.”

Mr Lammy on Thursday said engineers, analysts and designers will be sent into prisons “within 48 hours” to roll out technology aimed at reducing human error and modernising the “paper-based” processes that have led to mistaken releases.

He announced the new measures after meeting with 11 prison governors at the groundbreaking of a new prison in Gartree, Leicestershire.

Mr Lammy told reporters during the visit that he was “not equipped with all the detail” about Kaddour-Cherif’s release when he appeared at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

The Justice Secretary repeatedly refused to confirm at Prime Minister’s Questions, when he was standing in for Sir Keir, whether any more asylum seekers had been wrongly released since Hadush Kebatu, the now-deported migrant at the heart of protests in Epping, Essex.

Mr Lammy said he found out about the mistake on Wednesday morning but the detail was released just after he had finished PMQs.

The story broke as PMQs was ending, and it later emerged another prisoner, Billy Smith, 35, was also accidentally freed from the same prison. He has handed himself back in.

Asked whether the public can trust the criminal justice system, Sir Keir said: “Let me just say how angry and frustrated I am that these mistakes have been made in releasing people.

“They’re intolerable and they shouldn’t be made.

“A lot of it comes from the burden and the strain on the system because of the failures of the last government.

“But I recognise it’s our job to step up and to fix this, and we will.

“We’re putting in place an independent inquiry into these releases to find out what’s going wrong.

“David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, has convened the governors to talk to them about what more can be done, but we must put the systems in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen again, and we will.”

Stronger security checks were announced for prisons and an independent investigation was launched into releases in error following the blunder in Kebatu’s case.

The Epping migrant, jailed for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman, was accidentally freed from prison instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre last month. He was later traced and deported.

The error brought to light concerns over the rising number of prisoners released in error, as latest Government figures show 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025 – a 128% increase on 115 in the previous 12 months.

The Prison Governors Association (PGA) described releases in error as “neither rare nor hidden”, but said on Thursday the scale was “deeply concerning”.

On a visit to HMP Gartree, Mr Lammy said Kaddour-Cherif was freed before the tougher checks started, while Smith’s case was a court error.

The Cabinet minister told reporters: “We have found out that the release that has caused concern, this week, was actually before I introduced those checks just a few weeks ago following the release of Kebatu, and the other prisoner was a court mistake not, in fact, a prison mistake.”

Mr Lammy had confirmed on October 27 that stronger release checks would come into force immediately, two days before Kaddour-Cherif was released.

The Tories accused him of potentially misleading the public.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said: “David Lammy has either lied or has absolutely no clue what’s going on in his department.

“How can the public have confidence in the Justice Secretary when he can’t establish a timeline of events or answer basic questions?”

Kaddour-Cherif was serving a sentence at HMP Wandsworth for trespass with intent to steal, but had previously been convicted for indecent exposure.

It is understood he is not an asylum seeker but is in the process of being deported after he overstayed his visa.