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A government minister has admitted that accidental prison releases have gone up under the Labour government, but insisted that the government is “gripping” the crisis. Ministers are facing mounting pressure over a series of high-profile manhunts, with justice secretary David Lammy admitting on Friday there is a “mountain to climb” to tackle the crisis in the prisons system. It comes after it was revealed on Saturday that two prisoners are still at large after being mistakenly released last year, and another two, who are understood to have been freed in error in June this year, also remain missing. Asked if she knows how many prisoners are still on the run in total, culture secretary Lisa Nandy told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I haven't had any discussions with the justice secretary about that this morning. What I can tell you is that under the last government, for quite some time, there were, on average, 17 wrong releases. “Under this government that has risen. It's 22. That is completely unacceptable. It was unacceptable before it's unacceptable now.” She added: “Even one is too many, and the justice secretary is gripping this by appointing Dame Lynne Owens, who is the former director of the National Crime Agency, to make sure that we really grip this, starting with the antiquated paper based system that was developed in the 1980s that is still being used, building new prisons and making sure that we have additional checks so that people aren't wrongly released.” Earlier this week, a sex offender released in error was finally arrested, following a nine-day manhunt. On Friday, Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was captured in Islington, north London, after being spotted by a member of the public. The Algerian national – who has convictions for theft and had previously also been convicted for indecent exposure –was serving a sentence at HMP Wandsworth in southwest London but was mistakenly set free on 29 October. Kaddour-Cherif’s release piled pressure on Mr Lammy, who came under fire for how he dealt with the mistaken release of the prisoner. He was criticised for his decision not to address the blunder when he appeared at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, despite having been briefed about it and being repeatedly asked about accidental prison releases. Following the 24-year-old’s arrest, he admitted there was a “mountain to climb” to tackle the prison system crisis. “That is why I have ordered new tough release checks, commissioned an independent investigation into systemic failures and begun overhauling archaic paper-based systems still used in some prisons”, the justice secretary said in a statement. Just the day before, another wrongly released prisoner, fraudster Billy Smith, 35, handed himself in on Thursday. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the unaccounted prisoners revealed "the incompetence of this government". "It shouldn't be left to reporters to uncover the facts. [Justice Secretary] David Lammy must finally come clean about how many prisoners have been accidentally released and how many are still at large." Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said the situation is a “disgrace and an omnishambles” and called for Parliament to be recalled from recess. “It shouldn't have to take the media to inform the public that prisoners are at large after accidental release”, she said. "The situation for the government and the justice secretary is grave. The public deserves a full and frank explanation, and a rapid inquiry that stops this from happening. "Every resource must go into finding these prisoners and warning the public. The Justice Secretary must answer to MPs at the earliest opportunity, with Parliament recalled."
