David Lammy looking shocked against Parliament backdrop as shocking MoJ graph shows prisoner mistaken releases rocketing to record highs – up 128% in a year under Labour.

Lammy’s prisons in chaos: 12 more freed in error - 2 still at large

Justice Secretary David Lammy has confirmed that twelve more prisoners have been released in error across England and Wales in the past three weeks, with two individuals still at large as police continue their searches. The disclosure brings the total number of mistaken releases since April to at...

Reported from court

Bénédict Tarot Freeman

2 December 2025 at 13:01Updated 1 April 2026 at 01:173 min read

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Justice Secretary David Lammy has confirmed that twelve more prisoners have been released in error across England and Wales in the past three weeks, with two individuals still at large as police continue their searches.

The disclosure brings the total number of mistaken releases since April to at least 103, following 91 cases recorded between April and October, and comes only weeks after Mr Lammy assured Parliament that enhanced safeguards were being introduced to prevent further incidents.

Speaking to broadcasters, the Cabinet minister acknowledged a recent “spike” in accidental releases but insisted the trend is now on a “downward trajectory”. He attributed persistent errors to the prison service’s reliance on a paper-based system and repeated that only a fully digital replacement will eliminate human error entirely.

Mr Lammy said he had received assurances that the two outstanding escapees are neither violent offenders nor registered sex offenders, though he declined to provide further details on operational grounds.

The latest wave of erroneous releases began after 11 November, the date on which Mr Lammy delivered a Commons statement outlining new measures, including a mandatory “clear checklist” for prison governors and a £10 million investment in artificial-intelligence tools designed to flag calculation mistakes before inmates walk free.

Official figures show that mistaken releases surged by 128 per cent in the most recent reporting year, rising from 115 in 2023-24 to 262 in 2024-25, against a backdrop of just over 57,000 lawful end-of-custody releases – itself a 13 per cent increase on the previous twelve months.

The errors encompass both prisoners freed prematurely and, less commonly, those detained beyond their lawful release date.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick described the repeated failures as evidence of “shambolic management” that is “consistently putting the public at risk” and demanded to know when the fiasco will end.

Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Jess Brown-Fuller called the situation “utterly unacceptable” and urged both the Government and the Prison Service to accept full responsibility and guarantee no repetition.