Justice Secretary David Lammy has revealed that 12 prisoners have been accidentally released in the past three weeks, with two of them still at large.
The blunders come on top of the 91 inmates wrongly freed between April and October, prompting fresh concern over the safety and reliability of the prison system.
Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Lammy said the string of errors was the result of outdated prison processes. He admitted there would always be the risk of “human error” while jails continue to rely on a paper based system, adding that the situation should improve once a “completely digital system” is in place.
The Justice Secretary acknowledged the scale of the problem, saying there had recently been “a spike” in accidental releases, but insisted the issue was now on “a downward trajectory.”
The government introduced extra checks after the wrongful release of migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu, a case that drew widespread criticism and renewed scrutiny of prison procedures.
Official figures show that the number of inmates mistakenly let out has risen sharply, climbing from 115 in 2023, 2024 to 262 in the following year, raising urgent questions about staffing, record keeping and basic offender management across the prison estate.
A former Prison Warden told this paper:
“They’ve lost control, completely. The system is broken. Inmates are getting their friends to apply for jobs in the prisons, and too often those applications sail right through because the service is desperate for staff. It’s a revolving door, a vulnerability that everyone on the inside can see.
What used to be a structured, disciplined environment now feels compromised at every level. When prisoners know the people guarding them on a first-name basis from the outside world, when those connections slip past the vetting process, you are courting disaster.
It’s no surprise contraband is flooding in. It’s no surprise security keeps being breached. When the wrong people end up in the wrong jobs, the inmates start running the show. Their mates become their jailers, and the balance of power shifts overnight.
I spent decades in the service, and I’ve never been more worried. If this isn’t recognised and fixed fast, we are going to see more drugs, more violence, more escapes, and ultimately more public danger. The warning lights are flashing bright red.”
Lammy said reforms were under way, but until they are complete, further errors cannot be ruled out.
