The Algerian man who was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth last week is not an asylum seeker, it has been confirmed.
Both the BBC and the Guardian have reported that 24-year-old Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, who was released in error on Wednesday, October 29, is not an asylum seeker.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the Met police said they had only learned of the man’s released on Tuesday, November 4.
“Officers are carrying out urgent enquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody,” a spokesperson said.
The BBC reports that the man had committed multiple offences, one of which is a sex offence. He most recently appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in September on a charge of failing to comply with sex offender requirements.
The news of Kaddour-Cherif’s accidental release broke during PMQs, when deputy prime minister David Lammy was repeatedly asked by shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge if he was aware of any other asylum seeker offenders who had accidentally been released from prison.
It turns out the Tories had learned of the HMP Wandsworth error 15 minutes before PMQs, but mistakenly believed the man was an asylum seeker.
Regarding Cartlidge’s questions, a source told the Guardian: “This shows it’s wise to check all your facts.”
Lammy himself had heard about the wrongful release on Tuesday evening.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the minister said he is “absolutely outraged and appalled by the mistaken release of a foreign criminal wanted by the police”.
He said: “The Metropolitan Police is leading an urgent manhunt, and my officials have been working through the night to take him back to prison.
“Victims deserve better and the public deserve answers. That is why I have already brought in the strongest checks ever to clamp down on such failures and ordered an independent investigation, led by Dame Lynne Owens to uncover what went wrong and address the rise in accidental releases which has persisted for too long.
“This latest incident exposes deeper flaws across the failing criminal justice system we inherited. Dame Lynne Owens’ investigation will leave no stone unturned to identify these issues, so we can fix them, improve safeguards and ensure the public is properly protected.”