LONDON (Reuters) -British police said on Friday that they had arrested Brahim Kaddour Cherif, a convicted sex offender who had been mistakenly released from prison.
The arrest of the 24-year-old Algerian in north London follows a spike in the number of prisoners being wrongly released, placing justice minister David Lammy and the government under increasing scrutiny.
The manhunt for Kaddour Cherif came days after the accidental release of Ethiopian migrant Hadush Kebatu, whose criminal record had triggered protests outside a hotel housing asylum seekers.
Kaddour Cherif had been wrongly released on October 29. Another inmate, fraudster William Smith, was also released in error but later handed himself in.
The country’s prison system is under increasing strain after the number of inmates in England and Wales doubled in the last 30 years, forcing the government to expand an early release scheme to prevent an overcrowding crisis.
In a statement following the arrest of Kaddour Cherif, Lammy said he was “appalled” at the spike in prisoners being mistakenly released.
“I’m determined to grip this problem, but there is a mountain to climb which cannot be done overnight.”
Opposition parties and prison officials have criticised the government’s handling of the prison estate, citing overcrowding and underinvestment.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; editing by Sarah Young)
