How many prisoners are released by mistake?

As the hunt for a second and third prisoner who were released in error gets under way, government figures have revealed just how often this happens.

According to the statistics, published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the 12 months to March 2025 - a 128% increase from 115 the previous year.

Last month Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, who was serving a 12-month prison sentence for sexual assault, was released in error when he should have been deported.

The Ethiopian national, who came to the UK on a small boat in the summer, spent roughly 48 hours at large before being apprehended in north London and deported.

But it emerged on Wednesday that within days of Kebatu's mistaken release from HMP Chelmsford, HMP Wandsworth also mistakenly released prisoner Brahim Kaddour-Cherif.

Then, just hours later, Surrey Police announced it was also searching for 35-year-old William Smith, who had apparently been released on Monday, in a second error by staff at the jail. He had been sentenced to 45 months in prison after being convicted of fraud.

The government prison release report states: "Of the 262 releases in error, 233 of these releases in error occurred from prison establishments, while 29 were released in error at the courts.

"Releases in error from establishments could also be a result of errors by the court."

This is out of a total prison population across England and Wales of roughly 86,000.

Sky News has contacted the HM Prison & Probation Service to find out how many of the 262 prisoners have since been found and returned to custody.

In September 2024, Sky News reported how dozens of people released from jail under the government's emergency prison scheme were freed by mistake.

The Labour government said it was forced to release hundreds of inmates early because prisons were at capacity.

Kebatu was due to be deported when he was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford.

Previous high-profile manhunts

William Fernandez, who was awaiting trial for sexual assault, was released from HMP Wormwood by error in March 2021. He then went on to rape a 16-year-old girl and sexually assault a young woman.

In December 2019, the prisons and probation service "apologised unreservedly" after serial rapist Joseph McCann was freed to commit a series of sex attacks on women and children.

In July 2017, an inmate who was released from prison just months into a nine-year sentence due to a "clerical error" was arrested after weeks on the run.

(c) Sky News 2025: How many prisoners are released by mistake?