David Lammy says he didn't have 'all the facts' about sex offender set free by mistake

Embattled Justice Secretary David Lammy has insisted that he did not have "all the facts" when he refused five times to answer questions in Parliament about sex offenders mistakenly released from jail. The Deputy Prime Minister has faced a wave of criticism after dodging questions in the House of Commons, only for it to emerge that Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was released by accident from Wandsworth prison on October 29.

Kaddour-Cherif was serving a sentence at Wandsworth for trespass with intent to steal, but had previously also been convicted for indecent exposure. It followed the accidental release of Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford, after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. But on Thursday, Mr Lammy insisted he was "not equipped with all the facts" about a mistaken prisoner release when he appeared at Prime Minister's Questions, and said the Government had a "mountain to climb" in tackling the prisons crisis.

Mr Lammy said: "I took the judgement that it is important when updating the House and the country about serious matters like this that you have all of the detail.

"I was not equipped with all of the detail, and the danger is that you end up misleading the House and the general public. So, that is the judgement I took, and I think it's the right judgement."

Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said prison chiefs were being summoned for a meeting and a team of digital experts had been tasked with overhauling the "archaic" paper-based system of prisoner records.

Ahead of a meeting with ministers, the Prison Governors' Association (PGA) said the number of prisoners wrongly released was "deeply concerning" - with 262 prisoners released in error in the last full year of reporting.

In a statement, the PGA insisted only 0.5% of prisoners are not released on the correct date, but added: "While that may appear to be a small percentage, in a system managing tens of thousands of releases and transfers each quarter, it does represent a significant operational failure."

The conditions to "reduce this figure to zero simply do not exist", the association said, adding it "feels disingenuous to see politicians attempt to extract political gain from a prison system in crisis".

Justice minister Ms Davies-Jones earlier told the BBC: "We are convening an urgent meeting of the governors of the prisons to try and figure out exactly what is going on on the ground, because these, again, are the men and women dealing with this day in day out."

The Metropolitan Police has meanwhile continued to appeal to the public over the whereabouts of Kaddour-Cherif, who the force believes is still in London just over a week after his release.

"We are actively searching for Brahim Kaddour-Cherif who was released in error from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday 29 October.

"He is believed to be in London and has links to Tower Hamlets and Westminster. If you see him, please call 999 immediately," the Met said on social media.

The Algerian national is understood not to be an asylum seeker, but is in the process of being deported after he overstayed his visa.

He was serving a sentence at Wandsworth for trespass with intent to steal, but had previously also been convicted for indecent exposure.

Mr Lammy had earlier faced criticism of his approach to the mistaken releases.

The Times reported he was aware of Kaddour-Cherif's release and had prepared to address it when he filled in for Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, but did not.

The newspaper also said Mr Lammy rejected calls from Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to return to the Commons and give a statement on the error as aides believed it would be "career suicide".

The Ministry of Justice defended Mr Lammy's actions, and pinned the blame on the crisis facing prisons.