It comes after a string of high-profile accidental prison releases led to manhunts across the UK
It comes after a string of accidental prison releases led to manhunts across the UK, with Justice Secretary David Lammy admitting there is a "mountain to climb" to fix Britain's prisons.
The data, released by the Ministry of Justice today, revealed the number of prisoners accidentally released between April 1 and October 31 this year.
Mr Lammy, who has faced growing calls to resign, is set to answer questions from MPs this afternoon over the issue, after it was revealed two prisoners had been freed in error following the high-profile jail blunder of Hadush Kebatu, the now-deported migrant at the heart of protests in Epping, Essex.
After Kebatu's release, it was revealed Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian national, was accidentally freed from HMP Wandsworth on October 29 and was at large for over a week.
The sex offender was arrested in Finsbury Park, North London last week.
Fraudster Billy Smith was released from prison the same prison, but handed himself in.
Some 262 inmates were mistakenly let out in the year to March 2025 – a 128% increase on the 115 in the previous 12 months, Government figures also show.
At least three prisoners are now understood to be at large after being released in error.
Over the weekend, it was reported that a total of four such offenders had been released in error, with two released in June this year, and two in 2024.
On Monday, sources within the Government suggested that one of these had been returned to custody.
In a sign of the crisis behind the scenes within the custodial estate, he is understood to have never actually been released in error and was miscounted among those who had been.
Whether the miscounted prisoner remains in custody or was released at the correct time is unclear.
Making a statement on Tuesday, Mr Lammy told the Commons: “At that time, I had been alerted of the release of Brahim Kaddour-Cherif from HMP Wandsworth.
“Details about the case were still emerging throughout Wednesday.
“Importantly, my officials had not had confirmation about whether or not he was an asylum seeker.
“Indeed, it was not until later that afternoon that the Home Office confirmed to the Ministry of Justice that he was not.
“Given the nature of the opposition’s question, I made a judgment that I would wait until I had all the detail, rather than risk giving an accurate or incomplete or misleading picture to the House about a sensitive case.”
He added it was “unsurprising” that mistakes happen in a prison system that is “underfunded, unstaffed and operating under relentless strain”.
Of the 262 releases in error from prison in the year to March 2025, 87 were of offenders whose main offence was violence against a person, and three whose main offence was a sexual offence, he confirmed.
Mr Lammy said: “I’m clear that we must bear down on these numbers, which are symptomatic of a prison system under a horrendous strain.
“As the shadow justice secretary admitted last week, the state of the prison service has been unacceptable for a very long time, including under the Conservative government.
“Prisons today are still struggling with violence. The safety in custody statistics show an 8% rise in the rate of assaults in the year to June 2025.
“Systems are archaic. Every prisoner’s sentence is worked out on paper, considering the type of offence and the legislation covered by it. There are more than 500 pages of sentence management guidance.”
Announcing a slew of new measures, Mr Lammy pledged the Government is “accelerating upgrades” to the prison system.
He added: “I stood up a digital rapid response team last week to reduce human error with cutting-edge technology.
“Over the next six months, we will provide up to £10 million to deliver AI and technology solutions to help frontline staff avoid mistakes and support them to calculate sentences accurately.”
Finally, Mr Lammy said he is simplifying the release policy.
He told MPs: “One of the aims of the Sentencing Bill is to standardise how cases are treated, and following Damon Lynn Owens’ review, we will consider whether amendments are required to operational policy.”
A No 10 spokesman told reporters on Tuesday: "These numbers, they are symptomatic of a system that the Government inherited, of a prison system under severe strain, a failing criminal justice system.
"The public are right to be shocked by these cases. While they are rare, they have been rising year-on-year from an average of nine per month in 2023 to 17 per month the next year.
"And we’re clear that you can’t fix the prisons crisis overnight, but we have taken immediate action, including tougher new release checks, calling in prison governors, sending in tech experts."
