David Lammy has acknowledged that he lacked comprehensive information regarding the mistaken release of a prisoner when he avoided answering questions during Prime Minister’s Questions. Acting as the Deputy PM in place of Keir Starmer, Lammy defended his decision to withhold details from MPs, citing the risk of providing inaccurate information without having complete facts.
During an exchange with Tory James Cartlidge, Lammy, who also serves as the Justice Secretary, expressed frustration at being repeatedly questioned about further mistaken releases of asylum seekers following the release of Hadush Kebatu from an Epping hotel. Instead of directly addressing the questions, Lammy criticized the Tory government’s handling of prisons. However, it later came to light that another prisoner, registered sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, was wrongly released from HMP Wandsworth, leading to questions about Lammy’s knowledge of the situation.
Notably, Kaddour-Cherif was not an asylum seeker, which was the focus of Cartlidge’s inquiries. The Ministry of Justice clarified that details were still emerging at the time of Lammy’s appearance at PMQs, including information about the offender’s immigration status.
In response to the scrutiny following PMQs, Lammy explained that he had only become aware of the situation on Wednesday morning and did not possess all the necessary details during his parliamentary appearance. He emphasized the importance of having complete information before addressing serious matters to avoid misleading the Parliament and the public.
Following Kaddour-Cherif’s erroneous release, another case involving the mistaken release of William Smith, known as Billy, was revealed. Smith, a fraudster, was released erroneously due to a mix-up in sentencing information, which occurred in the courts rather than within the prison service.
Reflecting on the challenges faced, Lammy, who assumed the role of Justice Secretary in September, acknowledged the uphill battle in addressing the prisons crisis. He highlighted the need to reduce the rate of errors in releases and emphasized the longstanding issues within the prison system that require urgent attention.