Keir Starmer has defended his deputy David Lammy over prisoner release bungles – but insisted he is ‘angry and frustrated’ over the mistakes.
Mr Lammy said Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was mistakenly released before new checks were implemented, although he told the Commons last Monday those checks were effective immediately, two days before the wrongful release.
Asked whether Mr Lammy was telling the truth on Monday or in his latest comments, Sir Keir told broadcasters: ‘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.’
The Prime Minister added: ‘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.
‘Let me just say how angry and frustrated I am that these mistakes have been made in releasing people.’
Mr Lammy squirmed today as he insisted he stonewalled MPs over prisoner release errors because he ‘didn’t have all the facts’.
The Justice Secretary floundered as he was grilled for the first time since his extraordinary dodging of questions in the Commons yesterday.
David Lammy said Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was mistakenly released before new checks were implemented, although he told the Commons last Monday those checks were effective immediately, two days before the wrongful release
Keir Starmer has defended his deputy Mr Lammy over prisoner release bungles – but insisted he is ‘angry and frustrated’ over the mistakes
Stressing he had only been in the job ‘two months’, Mr Lammy said he was not told about the latest case of an offender being released in error until the morning before he stood in at PMQs.
That is despite suggestions officials were discussing the situation with the police on Tuesday evening.
Speaking on a visit to HMP Gartree in Leicestershire, Mr Lammy also seemed to muddle dates by suggesting new checks on releases had not been introduced before the latest incident.
Asked why he had refused to engage with direct questions in the House, Mr Lammy said: ‘I first found out about this on Wednesday morning. I was in the department, both learning from officials, but also preparing for Prime Minister’s Questions.
‘At the despatch box, I did not have all of the detail. That detail was actually released just later, after I had finished at Prime Minister’s Questions.
‘I took the judgement that it is important when updating the House and the country about serious matters like this, that you have all of the detail.
‘I was not equipped with all of the detail. And the danger is that you end up misleading the House and the general public. So that is the judgement I took. I think it’s the right judgement.’
Police are trying to track down Algerian national Kaddour-Cherif, 24, mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth on October 29.
They were also searching for another inmate, Billy Smith, 35, accidentally released from the same south-west London prison on Monday. However, he handed himself in this morning.
Mr Lammy today said he was ‘as shocked as anyone’ at the amount of mistaken prison releases as he vowed to ‘leave no stone unturned’ to fix the problem.
In a video posted to X, the Justice Secretary said: ‘I’m as shocked as anyone that these releases in error are happening at this rate.
‘I’m determined to grip it, but there’s a mountain to climb which cannot be done overnight.
‘I’ve already brought in stronger release checks with more direct accountability and I’ve asked Dame Lynn Owens to conduct an independent review to look at action we can take going forward.
‘Today, I’ve convened prison governors to understand what further support they need to stop these errors and we’re standing up a digital rapid response unit that will be in prisons within 48 hours, including Wandsworth, focused on using cutting-edge tech to reduce some of the human error.’
He added: ‘We will leave no stone unturned to identify these issues so we can bear down on this problem and ensure the public is properly protected.’
Justice Secretary David Lammy is struggling to contain a mounting backlash after stonewalling repeated questions about bungles in the Commons yesterday
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick gave a blunt assessment of Mr Lammy’s excuses for dodging direct challenges
Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth on October 29. He is seen here on police bodycam footage during his arrest in August
Police were also searching for another inmate, Billy Smith, 35, accidentally released from the same south-west London prison on Monday. However, he handed himself in this morning
Mr Lammy was previously dramatically accused of ‘bullsh**’ by the Tories.
Appearing on ITV‘s Good Morning Britain, Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick gave a blunt assessment of Mr Lammy’s excuses for dodging direct challenges.
He dismissed claims that details of the situation were still being uncovered as ‘bullsh**’ – forcing host Kate Garraway to apologise to viewers.
‘Well it’s very early in the morning and your viewers are still having their breakfast but that I’m afraid – if you excuse my language – is total b******t.’
Labour’s emergency scheme to ease overcrowding in jails has been blamed for a rise in wrongful early releases.
Nick Hardwick, the former chief inspector of prisons, said the policy had caused ‘confusion’ over how long offenders should be behind bars.
He told the BBC said that mistaken prison releases were a ‘longstanding problem’, but that the recent rise ‘seems to be related’ to Labour’s scheme.
‘That caused confusion in the bits of the prison service that are supposed to calculate how long someone is supposed to spend in prison,’ he said.
The Government had promised the ‘strongest checks ever’, and an independent investigation led by Dame Lynne Owens in the wake of last month’s blunder which saw Epping hotel migrant Hadush Kebatu accidentally released.
Mr Lammy said today: ‘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.
‘But the truth is, I’ve been in post two months. The rate of release by error is too high. It has to come down. That’s why I’ve asked Dame Lynne Owens to look at this.’
Mr Lammy is struggling to contain a mounting backlash after stonewalling repeated questions about bungles in the Commons yesterday.
Minutes later it was confirmed that another foreign offender had been let out of Wandsworth jail in error.
There are claims that Mr Lammy was told by advisers that agreeing to a request to come back to the House later to make a statement would be ‘career suicide’.
A manhunt has been launched for an Algerian prisoner who was released by mistake from Wandsworth prison
Mr Lammy was previously understood to have been briefed about the case on Tuesday night, although he now appears to be adamant he was told yesterday morning.
He was filling in at PMQs for Sir Keir, who is attending the COP30 climate summit in Brazil.
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones was sent out to face media questions this morning. Mr Lammy cannot be brought to the Commons before Tuesday now due to a recess.
In fresh confusion, Mr Lammy told the Commons yesterday that he was not wearing a poppy because he had bought a new suit for the PMQs occasion that morning.
But aides have since briefed that his shopping expedition was actually on Monday morning.
Asked about Mr Lammy’s suggestion that he had been shopping for a suit before PMQs yesterday, Ms Davies-Jones told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘He wasn’t out on Oxford Street shopping for a new suit.’
‘He was preparing for Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions. He was preparing to stand in for the Prime Minister, the first ever black person to do so,’ she added.
Further pressed on the issue, Ms Davies-Jones said: ‘He cracked a joke because his poppy had fallen off this suit, which he also addressed during the Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions.
‘I don’t think it’s appropriate to get into the weeds of if he was shopping or not in the morning.’
Ms Davies-Jones also said a review led by Dame Lynne Owens in the wake of last month’s blunder which saw Epping hotel migrant Hadush Kebatu accidentally released will report back ‘in the next few weeks’.
Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), said there are an average of 22 prison releases in error every month.
He told BBC Breakfast: ‘The leaders of this service have known about this for over 12 months, but only now it’s in the spotlight. Are they doing something to remedy it?
‘The POA have asked for a royal commission, because we realise that the entire criminal justice system at this moment in time is in complete meltdown.
‘It’s not just prisons. It’s probation, it’s the court, it’s the police. And we want a royal commission to discover not just what’s gone wrong, but more importantly put it right.’
