On Wednesday, British police announced they had begun searching for an inmate who was mistakenly released from prison, angering parliamentarians with the latest error committed by the beleaguered UK prison system.
 |
| Source: Unsplash |
AFP reports: The Metropolitan Police Department of London said in a statement that they are looking for a 24-year-old Algerian man who was released in error a week ago.
"Officers are carrying out urgent inquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody," a spokesperson said.
Justice Minister David Lammy said he was “appalled” by the mistake.
"My officials have been working through the night to return him to prison," he said in a statement.
The Met spokesperson said the force was informed Tuesday that the man had been mistakenly released from Wandsworth prison in southwest London on Wednesday, October 29.
This error further embarrasses Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s struggling center-left Labour government, which polls show is currently unpopular with the British public.
Last month, Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian asylum seeker convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, was mistakenly released from prison before being recaptured following a 48-hour manhunt.
The UK government then forcibly deported Kebatu and gave him £500 ($661) to leave the country. They also launched an independent investigation into his accidental release.
Figures showed that 262 people were mistakenly released from prison between March 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the previous 21 months.
Kebatu’s arrest earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, triggered weeks of demonstrations targeting hotels where asylum seekers were believed to be staying.
AFP understands that the Algerian man released last Wednesday is not an asylum seeker.
Starmer, who has been prime minister since July 2024, is facing backlash on multiple fronts regarding immigration, as the far-right Reform UK party, led by the outspoken Nigel Farage, is gaining popularity.
The premier’s official spokesperson called the latest accidental release “utterly unacceptable,” but suggested that the previous Conservative government was partly to blame for leaving behind an overcrowded and chaotic prison system.
По материалам: http://www.planet-today.com/2025/11/uk-police-manhunt-after-new-man-wrongly.html