David Lammy defends dodging questions on mistakenly freed prisoner at PMQs as he 'was not equipped with the facts'
Prisoner found three days after he was freed from HMP Wandsworth by mistake - but Algerian sex offender still on loose
David Lammy has said he was “not equipped with all the facts” about a mistaken prisoner release when he appeared at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
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Mr Lammy said he was “not equipped with all of the detail” about a mistaken prisoner release when he appeared at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Speaking on a visit to HMP Gartree in Leicestershire, the Deputy Prime Minister told reporters: “We have found out that the release that has caused concern this week was actually before I introduced those checks just a few weeks ago, following the release of Kebatu and the other prisoner, was a court mistake, not in fact, a prison mistake.
“But the truth is, I’ve been in post two months. The rate of release by error is too high. It has to come down. That’s why I’ve asked Dame Lynne Owens to look at this.”
Read More: Full timeline of HMP Wandsworth prison release blunders - as two more inmates accidentally freed
He added: “I first found out about this on Wednesday morning. I was in the department, both learning from officials, but also preparing for Prime Minister’s Questions.
“At the despatch box, I did not have all of the detail. That detail was actually released just later, after I had finished at Prime Minister’s Questions. I took the judgement that it is important when updating the House and the country about serious matters like this, that you have all of the detail.
“I was not equipped with all of the detail. And the danger is that you end up misleading the House and the general public. So that is the judgement I took. I think it’s the right judgement.”
My Lammy spoke after one of the criminals being hunted by police after being mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth handed himself over to authorities.
Convicted fraudster Billy Smith, 35 was wrongly set free on Monday but has now handed himself in after a three-day manhunt.
Pictures taken this morning show Smith, dressed in a Nike tracksuit, smoking a cigarette and surrounded by officers this morning after returning to the jail.
Surrey Police said Smith handed himself in to HMP Wandsworth after a manhunt was launched following his accidental release.
In a statement the force said: "We are cancelling our appeal to help find wanted 35-year-old William Smith who was released in error from HMP Wandsworth on Monday, 3 November.
"Smith handed himself in to HMP Wandsworth today."
A manhunt is still under way for Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, who has been at large since he was mistakenly freed from the south London prison on October 29.
Read more: Child killer who murdered two-year-old stepdaughter found dead in cell
Smith was freed on the same day he was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences at Croydon Crown Court on November 3.
His sentence was mixed up with that of another inmate who has the same surname.
Smith was convicted alongside a co-defendant, Joseph Smith, who was given a suspended sentence which allowed him to walk free.
Police are trying to track down Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, who was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth last Wednesday.
Kaddour-Cherif is serving a sentence at Wandsworth for trespass with intent to steal, but had previously also been convicted for indecent exposure.
He was freed from the prison, which was put into special measures last year, on October 29, but the mistake was only reported to the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday, the force said.
The Algerian national is understood to not be an asylum seeker, but is in the process of being deported after he overstayed his visa.