Almost 100 prisoners were mistakenly freed from jail during the last six months, new figures show.
A total of 91 inmates were wrongly released between April 1 and October 31, according to the latest Ministry of Justice figures.
It comes as Justice Secretary David Lammy is facing face questions from MPs today over the issue after Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif and fraudster Billy Smith were accidentally freed from HMP Wandsworth earlier this month, sparking a double manhunt.
The two mistaken releases followed the high-profile jail blunder of Hadush Kebatu, the now-deported migrant at the heart of protests in Epping, Essex.
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New figures show almost 100 prisoners were mistakenly released under Labour between April and October this year (file photo)
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Ethiopian national Kebatu has since been deported, while Kaddour-Cherif was arrested last week and is understood to be in the process of being deported.
Smith meanwhile turned himself back in on Thursday, November 6.
Some 262 inmates were let let out in the year to March 2025 – a 128 per cent increase on the 115 in the previous 12 months, Government figures also show.
Stronger security checks were announced for prisons and an independent investigation was launched into releases in error after Kebatu was freed from HMP Chelmsford on October 24.
Hadush Kebatu has since been deported back to Ethiopia following his mistaken release
| ESSEX POLICEKebatu had been jailed for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman, but was freed by mistake instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.
Shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, warned the accidental releases of Kebatu, Kaddour-Cherif and Smith were "just the tip of the iceberg" and that the British public deserves to have the "full picture".
Three other prisoners are now understood to be at large after being released by mistake.
Over the weekend, it was reported that a total of four such offenders had been released in error, with two released in June this year and two in 2024.
On Monday however, sources within the Government suggested that one of these had been returned to custody.
David Lammy has admitted there is a 'mountain to climb' to tackle the crisis in the prisons system
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But in a sign of the crisis behind the scenes within the custodial estate, he is understood to have never actually been released in error and was miscounted among those who had been.
Whether the miscounted prisoner remains in custody or was released at the correct time is unclear.
Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Lammy, admitted on Friday that there is a "mountain to climb" to tackle the crisis in the prisons system.
Prisons minister, Lord James Timpson, said on Monday there is "no quick fix" to releases in error, adding it is "going to take time to get it right".
He told peers the current process of releasing prisoners is a mixture of paperwork and a digital system, adding: "There are literally boxes and boxes of paperwork all over desks and on the floor that are following offenders around the various prisons that they go to.
"My solution and the team solution is very much digitally based."
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