Two prisoners still at large after being freed by mistake in 2024

Two prisoners who are still at large were freed by mistake in 2024, the BBC understands.

Two others are still missing after being set free in error in June 2025.

Details of the four prisoners come as ministers face growing pressure over a number of high-profile mistaken releases.

Two other men released in error from Wandsworth prison are back in custody after police manhunts this week, which came after a migrant sex offender was set free in late October.

Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was arrested on Friday after being released on 29 October, while William Smith handed himself back in to the south London prison on Thursday.

Migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford in Essex.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told the BBC: “The vast majority of offenders released by mistake are quickly brought back to prison, and we will do everything we can to work with the police to capture the few still in the community.”

Earlier, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the unaccounted prisoners revealed “the incompetence of this government”.

“It shouldn’t be left to reporters to uncover the facts. [Justice Secretary] David Lammy must finally come clean about how many prisoners have been accidentally released and how many are still at large.”

A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said “every resource” must go into finding the prisoners.

“This is a disgrace and an omnishambles. It shouldn’t have to take the media to inform the public that prisoners are at large after accidental release,” Jess Brown-Fuller said.