Six inmates have been wrongly freed from custody within the past week, according to new reports, including asylum seeker and sex offender Hadush Kebatu, who was mistakenly discharged from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.
The convicted sex attacker should have been transferred to an immigration detention facility ahead of his planned deportation under the early removals scheme for foreign national offenders.
Instead, prison staff released him in what the Justice Secretary described as "what appears to have been in human error".
The incident has prompted the suspension of one Chelmsford prison employee whilst investigations continue into how the serious breach occurred.
Sky News revealed that accidental releases occurred across multiple prison facilities nationwide.
Two inmates were wrongly released from HMP Pentonville, a Category B facility in North London.
Additional mistaken releases occurred at HMP Durham and The Mount prison in Hertfordshire, and one individual was incorrectly freed from Reading Crown Court.
Sources indicate that Kebatu's case involved a missing or overlooked IS91 form, the documentation that instructs staff to retain foreign national offenders for transfer to immigration centres rather than releasing them.
Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly released from prison on Friday | PAPrison service insiders suggest either the crucial paperwork was absent or overlooked by personnel during processing.
Government data shows that 262 inmates were incorrectly discharged during the year ending March 2025, marking a dramatic 128 per cent rise from 115 cases recorded in the preceding twelve months.
Prison reform experts attribute this sharp increase to several systemic failures, including rapid prisoner turnover, insufficient numbers of seasoned personnel, and complicated early release programmes that have overwhelmed the corrections system.
The mounting errors have intensified scrutiny of prison management practices across the UK, with critics pointing to understaffing and inadequate training as key factors behind the escalating number of administrative failures that have allowed dangerous offenders to walk free.
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According to Government figures published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025 | PAFormer National Crime Agency director Dame Lynne Owens will chair an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding these release errors, with findings expected within eight weeks.
The inquiry will examine the specific failures that led to Kebatu and others being incorrectly released from custody.
Prison authorities have already introduced emergency measures to prevent further incidents, including mandatory completion of new release checklists by senior staff members the evening before any prisoner discharge.
These enhanced protocols came into effect yesterday.
David Lammy announced an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding these release errors
| Houses of ParliamentA Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government.
"As well as building more prison places and reforming sentencing, we have introduced mandatory, stronger prisoner release checks to keep our streets safe and protect the public."
The spokesman added that the investigation announced by Mr Lammy will “establish the full facts of the incident and look at the serious issue of releases in error across the prison estate”.
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