Mistakenly released prisoner Billy Smith turns himself in

"A fraudster mistakenly released from prison this week has handed himself back into HMP Wandsworth, in southwest London, Surrey police said. William Smith, 35, usually known as Billy Smith, was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences by video link from Croydon crown court on Monday, but was then released in error by the prison. A clerical mistake by the court led to the prison being told it was a suspended sentence, which meant he no longer had to be detained."

"An Algerian sex offender, Ibrahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, who was released from Wandsworth by mistake last week, remains at large. The Met police, who are hunting him, were only told about his release on Tuesday and have expressed frustration over his six-day head start. The number of prisoners released by mistake has more than doubled in one year, official figures show. In the year to March, 262 were freed in error, compared with 115 the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Justice."

William Smith, 35, known as Billy Smith, was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences by video link from Croydon crown court but was released in error by HMP Wandsworth after a court clerical mistake led the prison to be told the sentence was suspended. The court corrected the error but Wandsworth was not informed, prompting a Surrey Police manhunt because of his links to Woking. Smith turned up at the prison gates and handed himself back into custody. An Algerian sex offender released by mistake last week remains at large. Official figures show 262 prisoners were freed in error in the year to March, more than double the previous year, and prison sources cite overcrowding as a contributing factor.

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