Mistakenly released U.K. prisoner turns himself in as search continues for second freed convict

A general view of HMP Wandsworth in southwest London on Sept. 6, 2023. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

LONDON — One of two inmates who were mistakenly released early from a London prison surrendered Thursday after waving to reporters and smoking a cigarette on the steps of the Victorian-era lockup.

Billy Smith, 35, turned himself in to HMP Wandsworth three days after he was released in the latest administrative blunder to focus attention on an overcrowded and overwhelmed prison system that has become a political liability for the Labour government after being a thorn in the side of their Conservative predecessors.

Prison chiefs were summoned to a meeting Thursday to discuss the errors and efforts were being made to update a system that still uses paper prison records, Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said.

Smith, 35, was accidentally freed Monday — the same day he was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for multiple frauds.

Police were still searching for Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, who was mistakenly released from Wandsworth Oct. 29, and was serving time for trespass with intent to steal and is a registered sex offender for an indecent exposure conviction

Cherif, an Algerian national, entered the U.K. legally in 2019, but had overstayed and was in the initial stages of the deportation process.

Both men were wrongly freed from Wandsworth, which was built in southwest London in the middle of the 19th century, and was under scrutiny after another prisoner escaped two years ago by clinging to the underside of a food delivery truck.

The inadvertent releases followed more stringent controls that were supposed to be in place after an asylum-seeker who inspired a rise of anti-immigrant protests was mistakenly freed from Chelmsford Prison, east of London, on Oct. 24.

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, who had been sentenced to 12 months in a British prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, was captured after a two-day search and quickly deported to his home country of Ethiopia.

After the Kebatu search, the government announced stronger security checks in prisons and launched an independent investigation into the screwup that has caused further embarrassment for the Prison Service, which has been starved of resources for many years.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who is also the justice minister, said he was “absolutely outraged” and sought to blame the woes facing the prison estate on the previous government.

According to government figures, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year ending March 2025, a 128% increase on the previous 12-month period.

Conservative spokespeople said the Labour government has to take the blame as the sharp increase in the numbers is directly linked with its decision to release some prisoners earlier to ensure prisons don’t exceed capacity.

Brian Melley, The Associated Press