Prisoner Brahim Kaddour-Cherif still on run after Billy Smith hands himself in
· Yahoo NewsA prisoner released by mistake from HMP Wandsworth earlier this week has handed himself in, while the hunt continues for a migrant sex offender also let free in error.
William (Billy) Smith, 35, handed himself back in three days after he was released from the south London prison on Monday, 3 November.
According to ITV News, which filmed his return, he was accompanied by his partner, who he hugged before speaking to prison staff at the prison’s entrance.
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Police are continuing their efforts to track down Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, mistakenly released from the same prison on Wednesday, 29 October.
The mistaken releases added further embarrassment to the government after Epping hotel migrant Hadush Kabatu was wrongly released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday, 24 October, before eventually being caught and then given money as he was deported.
On Thursday, 6 November, justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said prison chiefs were being summoned for a meeting on Thursday and a team of digital experts had been tasked with overhauling the “archaic” paper-based system of prisoner records.
Justice secretary David Lammy responded to news of Smith’s return to custody on social media, describing the spike in mistaken releases as “unacceptable”. He added: “We’re modernising prison systems, replacing paper with digital tools to cut errors. We’re working with police to recapture Brahim Kaddour-Cherif.”
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Lammy, who is also the deputy prime minister, previously faced criticism of his approach to the mistaken release when he refused to answer questions put to him on the issue when he was standing in for Keir Starmer at prime minister's questions on Wednesday, 5 November.
He refused to confirm repeatedly whether any more asylum seekers had been wrongly released since Kebatu was released early from HMP Chelmsford.
Speaking to reporters HMP Gartree in Leicestershire on Thursday, 6 November, he said: “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, and I think it’s the right judgement.”
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Kaddour-Cherif's mistaken release from HMP Wandsworth also came just two days after Lammy announced enhanced checks on prisoner releases in the wake of the Kebatu incident.
Lammy said he was freed before the tougher checks started, despite saying they would be implemented immediately on 27 October.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said there has been an "explosion in accidental prisoner releases” and called Lammy's PMQs performance "embarrassing".
What we know about manhunt for Brahim Kaddour-Cherif
Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, is serving a sentence at HMP Wandsworth for trespass with intent to steal. He had been convicted for indecent exposure in November 2024, when he was given an 18-month community order and placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.
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He was freed from the prison on Wednesday, 29 October, but the mistake was only reported to the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday, 4 November. It is understood that Kaddour-Cherif is not an asylum seeker, but he is in the initial stages of being deported for overstaying his visa.
He first entered the UK legally on a visit visa in 2019, but was flagged as an automatic case of having likely overstayed on February 6, 2020. According to the Met, registered sex offender Kaddour-Cherif also uses other variations of his first name, including Ibrahim, and has links to Westminster and Tower Hamlets.
Speaking on the evening of Wednesday, 5 November, Commander Paul Trevers said: “Cherif has had a six-day head start but we are working urgently to close the gap and establish his whereabouts.
“We will continue to use all the means at our disposal but we are also appealing for the public’s help to find him. We have seen in the very recent past how important alert members of the public reporting sightings can be.”
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According to a court service spokesman, Kaddour-Cherif was fined for assault by beating in January; then, in June was jailed for six weeks for possession of a knife at Southwark Crown Court.
One count of burglary and one count of handling stolen goods were also on the charge sheet at that hearing, but there was no record of a plea being entered to either charge, the spokesman said.
Kaddour-Cherif was also accused of burglary in Walthamstow and a case management hearing had been due to take place at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Thursday, 6 November.
What we know about mistaken release of Billy Smith
Surrey Police said Billy Smith handed himself in to HMP Wandsworth after a manhunt was launched following his accidental release on Monday, 3 November.
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Footage from ITV News on Thursday showed a smiling Smith appearing outside HMP Wandsworth, accompanied by his partner, who he hugged before walking to the entrance to the facility.
Smith was in jail after being sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences at Croydon Crown Court on the day he was accidentally freed.
The BBC reported that a clerical error by a court had led to his release, as he was listed as receiving a suspended sentence, rather than one in custody.
According to government figures published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025 – a 128% increase on 115 in the previous 12 months.
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Justice minister Davies-Jones said on Thursday, 6 November, that prison governors had been summoned to a meeting to discuss the accidental release of criminals. A "crack team" of digital experts was also being brought in to overhaul the "archaic" paper-based system within the prison service.
Ahead of a meeting with ministers, the Prison Governors Association (PGA) described releases in error as “neither rare nor hidden”, but said the scale of them was “deeply concerning” – with 262 prisoners released in error in the last full year of reporting.
In a statement, the PGA insisted only 0.5% of prisoners are not released on the correct date, but added: “While that may appear to be a small percentage, in a system managing tens of thousands of releases and transfers each quarter, it does represent a significant operational failure.”
The conditions to “reduce this figure to zero simply do not exist”, the association said, adding it “feels disingenuous to see politicians attempt to extract political gain from a prison system in crisis”
HMP Wandsworth 'had several critical inspections' in recent years
The under-fire HMP Wandsworth, which was put into special measures last year, has received several critical inspections citing poor safety, drug use and suicides in recent years.
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Only last month, the HMP Wandsworth's Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said the prison remained "inhumane and unfit for purpose" despite recent investments.
In 2024, a report by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) found prison staff displayed an "inability to account for prisoners during the working day", despite an investment of almost £900,000 since the 2023 escape of former British soldier Daniel Khalife.
The prisons watchdog issued an urgent notification after a "catastrophic inspection" in 2024 found alarmingly high rates of self-harm, dangerous levels of violence and nearly 50% of prisoners taking drugs.
It found the 1851-built Victorian prison was "severely overcrowded", with 80% of the 1,521 inmates sharing cells designed to hold one person.
The 2025 report said the prison had shown improvement on concerns identified in the "catastrophic" 2024 inspection, despite being run by fewer than 85 officers and "on average a third of staff" being absent every day.
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In September 2023, Khalife escaped from HMP Wandsworth by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery truck, leading to a four-day manhunt.
After his arrest on a canal towpath, he pleaded guilty to escaping lawful custody, and a security audit that followed revealed 81 security failings at the prison.
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