"The justice secretary is so clueless, he's literally lost track of how many prisoners he's lost, he told MPs. He says today a prisoner may have been accidentally released last Monday. Well, has he looked? He's either in his cell or he's not. What a complete and utter farce he's presiding over. The public are being endangered as this circus rumbles on week after week, with no end in sight."
"Lammy blamed cuts under previous Conservative governments for the mistakes, and invited Jenrick to join him in apologising for the errors. Frontline prison officers were cut by a quarter between 2010 and 2017, he said. That's around 6,000 fewer people and means that there are less experienced staff, which places more pressure on the system. Unsurprisingly, mistakes happen in those circumstances."
"He confirmed that 262 prisoners had been freed in error in the year to March 2025 out of 57,000 releases, a 128% rise on the previous year. New data my department published today shows that from April to the end of October this year, there were 91 releases in error from prison, he said. A No 10 spokesperson said the numbers were symptomatic of a system that the government inherited, of a prison system under severe strain, a failing criminal justice system."
Ninety-one prisoners were released in error in England and Wales from April to the end of October, with as many as four possibly at large. Three mistakenly released inmates are being traced by police and a fourth released last Monday is under investigation. A year-to-March-2025 count found 262 erroneous releases out of 57,000 releases, a 128% rise on the prior year. Average monthly errors increased from nine per month in 2023 to 17 per month the next year. Lammy said frontline officers were cut by a quarter between 2010 and 2017, about 6,000 fewer staff, which reduced experience and increased pressure.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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