This ex-jail guard is amazed at the joke levels of security

For the second time in a fortnight, a police manhunt is underway - this time for Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian sex offender previously convicted of indecent exposure who had been serving a sentence at HMP Wandsworth for trespass with intent to steal. Until, that is, he escaped.

- AVA VIDAL

Except, he didn't escape. It appears that prison staff simply opened the gates and let him out.

The same went for 35-year-old convicted fraudster William Smith, who was released by mistake from the same jail - the same day he had been sent down with a 45-month sentence. After three days at large, he handed himself back in yesterday morning, with a smile to the awaiting cameras.

Before I became a stand-up comedian, I spent five years as a guard at HMP Pentonville, a large, overcrowded category B and C facility that holds more than 1,200 men and young offenders, and the now-closed women's prison, HMP Holloway. So I know how excruciating it is for the staff when inmates escape. After all, you had one job...

However, I'm astounded at just how easily inmates are getting out these days.

Last month, Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu - who had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman while staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex - was mistakenly released from Chelmsford prison, prompting a 48-hour manhunt for him in London, where he was spotted wandering about. He has since been deported.

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif had been sentenced to an 18-month community order but, having also overstayed his visa, was in the early stages of the deportation process. Perhaps prison officers believed he had also overstayed his welcome at their nick.

As for William Smith, the police helpfully advised the public that he goes by “Billy”, as opposed to his full name. I suppose this was in case people see the famous Hollywood actor of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame wandering around Selfridges, bulldoze through his bodyguards and tackle him to the floor in a clumsy citizen’s arrest.