A search was underway in the UK on Wednesday for two men who were mistakenly released from prison – the second and third incidents in two weeks and a growing number of wrongful release procedures that have put the government under fire.
London’s London police said they were informed by the English prison service on Tuesday afternoon that they were “accidentally released” from Southwest London, on Oct. Oct. 29.
The suspect has been identified as Algerian National Brahim Kaddour Cherif. Police said he is a registered sex offender who was convicted of indecent exposure last year, sentenced to an 18-month community order and placed on the sex offenders register for five years.
The BBC reported that Cherif finally appeared in court in September, facing charges of failing to comply with the requirements of convicted criminals.
“Cherif had six days left but we are working urgently to close the gap and determine where he is,” said the head of the police investigation.
A second man who was mistakenly released, 35-year-old William Smith, was released from the same jail as Cherif on Monday, Surrey police said. He was released the same day he appeared at a hearing where he received a 45-month sentence for multiple counts of fraud.
“I am very angry and shocked at the wrongful release of a foreign criminal wanted by the police. The Metropolitan Police led the night back from prison and the Secretary of Justice, said a statement after the first error was issued, according to the BBC.
“The victims deserve better and the community deserves answers. That’s why I have introduced very strong checks that will fail to cover up the release that went wrong again,” said Lammy.
UK Prime Minister Kerm’s spokesman Keirir Starmer called the release “acceptable” and the system needs to be reformed and proper testing needs to take place
Just last week, the accidental extradition of Hadesh Kebatu, an Ethiopian man convicted of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl, led to his two-day exile and eventual deportation. British authorities agreed to give him the equivalent of about $600 to get on the plane, rather than file a new legal challenge to his deportation.
The number of prisoners released from UK prisons by mistake has doubled in the past year, according to Government data analyzed by Britain’s Telegraph newspaper.
About 262 prisoners were wrongly released from March 2024 to March 2025, compared to 115 in the same period last year, the Telegraph reported.
An official review of the controversy has begun, but Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and adviser to UK government officials, cited overcrowding in UK government prisons as a reason for the accidental release.
Overcrowding has put more pressure on prison administrators to catch criminals faster, which has led to more inmate movement within the prison system, Acheson told The Telegraph.
“It is quite possible that one of the reasons for the increase in these errors has been the push and the most important thing is to get people out,” Acheson told the Telegraph.
