Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice
One of the prisoners mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth handed himself in amid mounting pressure on David Lammy over his handling of the fiasco, as the hunt continues for a registered sex offender who is still at large.
Billy Smith, 35, was pictured grinning on Thursday morning as he gave himself up three days after being released in error, having been sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences. Wearing a tracksuit, the criminal was filmed hugging his partner and enjoying a cigarette on the jail steps before turning himself in.
The latest blunders were blamed on clerical errors in a system under “relentless strain”.
Meanwhile, the justice secretary insisted he was “not equipped with all of the detail” when he appeared at PMQs on Wednesday and repeatedly failed to answer questions on whether there had been another mistaken release
Continue Reading on The Independent
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.