David Lammy has said he is “outraged and appalled” after it emerged a manhunt is underway after another foreign criminal was mistakenly released.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the case “exposes deeper flaws across the failing criminal justice system”. It comes after he repeatedly refused to tell MPs whether any more foreign criminals had been released after the Hadush Kebatu scandal.
A 24-year-old Algerian man was accidentally freed from HMP Wandsworth in south-west London on October 29 – but the mistake was only reported to the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday, the force said.
It is understood the man is not an asylum seeker. In a statement Mr Lammy said: “I am absolutely outraged and appalled by the mistaken release of a foreign criminal wanted by the police. The Metropolitan Police is leading an urgent manhunt, and my officials have been working through the night to take him back to prison.
“Victims deserve better and the public deserve answers. That is why I have already brought in the strongest checks ever to clamp down on such failures and ordered an independent investigation, led by Dame Lynne Owens to uncover what went wrong and address the rise in accidental releases which has persisted for too long.
“This latest incident exposes deeper flaws across the failing criminal justice system we inherited. Dame Lynne Owens’ investigation will leave no stone unturned to identify these issues, so we can fix them, improve safeguards and ensure the public is properly protected.”