A final cig then back to his cell

Gaffe-exit lag hands himself in, Sex offender search continues

- PATRICK HILL

A PRISONER who was wrongly released handed himself in yesterday before enjoying a final cigarette outside with a laughing jail guard.

William "Billy" Smith walked into the public reception of HMP Wandsworth wearing a blue tracksuit after being dropped off in a flatbed truck at 10.30am.

He was seen hugging a crying woman who was sitting inside the vehicle before telling a worker at the Victorian jail: "I'm the prisoner they're looking for. I'm about to hand myself in."

Smith, 35, had been accidently released from the same prison in South West London on Monday - just hours after being sentenced to 45 months for fraud offences.

A witness said: "It looked like he was trying to savour his last moments of freedom before going back inside.

"There seemed to be some confusion at first about who he was and what he was there for.

"He came in and out of the prison doors more than once while standing on the steps."

They added: "A female guard helped him to spark up his cigarette and then after he came out again two male officers stood beside him while he smoked it.