'This is a complete and utter shambles...' Lammy under fire over prisoner releases

DAVID Lammy was facing mounting pressure last night over the prisoner releases scandal.

- BY MICHAEL KNOWLES

The Justice Secretary faced accusations he has “no idea” how many criminals have been let out of jail by mistake as Labour were blamed for causing the fiasco.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said his opposite number is “completely out of his depth” and accused him of “shopping for a suit” instead of addressing the crisis.

Mr Jenrick said the government's early release scheme was partly behind the blunders.

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, an Algerian national and sex offender, was let out of Wandsworth Prison, in South London, by mistake on October 29.

Convicted fraudster William Smith was released from the same jail in error days later on November 3.

Mr Jenrick told the Daily Express: “This is a complete and utter shambles. The second convicted sex offender illegal migrant in two weeks has been released accidentally from one of our prisons, despite the fact that the Justice Secretary, after the first incident, said he was putting in

place the most robust checks to ensure this never happens again.

“It took six days for the prison service to even become aware that this had happened and inform the Metropolitan Police, who are now a week behind in the manhunt. Then the Justice Secretary is informed about this on Tuesday night.

“He didn’t come clean. He spent the next morning, we're told, going out shopping for a suit rather than taking charge of his department.

“He then comes to Parliament and doesn't answer five straight questions about this.

“I think it is a disgrace. It's a total dereliction of duty.