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A sex offender who was in Britain illegally is being hunted by police after he was accidentally released from jail just days after a similar blunder left an asylum seeker on the streets.
In a fresh crisis for Sir Keir Starmer’s government, it emerged that Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, had been wrongly freed from scandal-hit HMP Wandsworth in London.
It came moments after deputy prime minister David Lammy repeatedly failed to answer questions in the Commons on whether there had been another mistaken release since Epping hotel migrant Hadush Kebatu was wrongly freed last month.
The justice secretary later admitted he had been informed on Tuesday night of the hunt for the Algerian national, who is serving a sentence for trespass with intent to steal, but has previously also been convicted for indecent exposure.
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