One of two prisoners accidentally released from Wandsworth has surrendered after three days, Surrey Police said, cancelling its appeal for information. The 35-year-old had been wrongly discharged after a court clerical error indicated a suspended sentence. Police continue to hunt 24-year-old Ibrahim Kaddour-Cherif, an Algerian national described as a sex offender, who was released Oct. 29. MPs criticised a six-day delay before the prison service recognised the mistake; official data show accidental releases have more than doubled recently amid overcrowding concerns.
Wandsworth Blunder: One Prisoner Surrenders After Clerical Error, Another Still at Large
One of two prisoners accidentally released from Wandsworth has surrendered after three days, Surrey Police said, cancelling its appeal for information. The 35-year-old had been wrongly discharged after a court clerical error indicated a suspended sentence. Police continue to hunt 24-year-old Ibrahim Kaddour-Cherif, an Algerian national described as a sex offender, who was released Oct. 29. MPs criticised a six-day delay before the prison service recognised the mistake; official data show accidental releases have more than doubled recently amid overcrowding concerns.
02:55, 07.11.2025Security
One of two men mistakenly released from Wandsworth returns to custody; manhunt continues for the other
Nov. 6 (UPI) — One of two inmates accidentally discharged from His Majesty's Prison Wandsworth in south London has surrendered after three days at large, Surrey Police said Thursday.
William Smith, 35, returned to custody voluntarily, prompting Surrey Police to withdraw an appeal for public assistance. Smith had been sentenced at Croydon Crown Court to 45 months for fraud, but a clerical error incorrectly recorded a suspended sentence and the prison discharged him in error.
Second inmate still being sought
The Metropolitan Police remain actively searching for Ibrahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, an Algerian national described by authorities as a sex offender. Kaddour-Cherif was released from Wandsworth on Oct. 29 and has been on the run since, the Met said. Officers have warned that his extended head start complicates efforts to locate him.
Parliamentary scrutiny and official responses
Members of Parliament pressed ministers after it emerged the prison service did not identify the Wandsworth error for six days. Justice Secretary David Lammy — deputising for the Prime Minister — said he had not been accurately briefed at the time and did not want to give MPs incorrect information. He later described the manhunt as a top priority and said he was "outraged and appalled by the foreign criminal wanted by the police."
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick called the incidents a "complete and utter shambles," accusing the government of dereliction of duty and criticising the six-day delay in informing police.
Context: recent mistakes and overcrowding
The mistaken releases followed a separate case in which Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was wrongfully released from Chelmsford Prison on Oct. 24; Kebatu was rearrested two days later and subsequently deported. The BBC reported that the governor of Wandsworth was offsite on the day Kaddour-Cherif was released while leading the inquiry into the Chelmsford error.
Official figures show accidental releases more than doubled in the year to March, rising to 262 from 115 in 2023–24. Wandsworth and Chelmsford feature among prisons linked to more than 1,000 accidental releases since 2011–12. Recent data also ranked Wandsworth the second most overcrowded prison in England and Wales, with over 80% of inmates held in overcrowded conditions; more than half of Chelmsford's prisoners were recorded as in overcrowded conditions.
Prison security at Wandsworth has also been tested by deliberate escape attempts. In September 2023, former soldier Daniel Khalife escaped while on remand by strapping himself beneath a food-delivery vehicle using bed sheets.
What happens next
Authorities say the manhunt for Kaddour-Cherif remains ongoing. The incidents have prompted fresh calls for reviews of court-to-prison communication, record-keeping and oversight, and renewed debate in Parliament about resourcing and management in the prison estate.