Algerian man, 24, ‘released in error’ from HMP Wandsworth two days after stronger checks for jails were brought in
Police have launched an urgent manhunt for a second asylum-seeking prisoner mistakenly freed, two days after the justice secretary, David Lammy, brought in stronger checks for jails.
The 24-year-old Algerian was wrongly released from Wandsworth prison in south London last Wednesday, with the Metropolitan police only informed this week.
The Guardian understands that the man was in prison for trespass with intent to steal.
It comes after Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was accidentally freed from Chelmsford prison despite convictions for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman days after arriving in the UK in a small boat.
