Overview
- Police are searching for two men released in error from Wandsworth prison, including 24-year-old Algerian Brahim Kaddour-Cherif and fraud convict William Smith.
- Kaddour-Cherif, convicted in 2024 of indecent assault and placed on the sex offenders register, was mistakenly freed on 29 October and remains at large.
- The Home Office said Kaddour-Cherif is not an asylum seeker and is subject to deportation proceedings after overstaying a tourist visa.
- Smith was serving a 45-month sentence for fraud when he was erroneously released, and the BBC reported his custody status was wrongly entered as a suspended sentence.
- Justice Minister David Lammy said he was "absolutely indignant," later acknowledging he was notified of the Algerian’s release six days after it happened, as Downing Street called the errors "totally unacceptable" and highlighted an inquiry into 262 mistaken releases over the past year versus 115 the year before.