An Algerian man who was let out of Wandsworth Prison by mistake on 29 October has been arrested.

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif had been convicted in November 2024 of indecent exposure relating to an incident in March that year.

"Cherif was spotted by a member of the public in Blackstock Road, Islington just before 11.30am," the Met says in a statement.

"Officers responded immediately and he was arrested."

We'll bring you more on this shortly.

Image source, PA Media

Police are continuing their search for 24-year-old Algerian sex offender, Brahim Kaddour-Cherif.

The BBC has established Kaddour-Cherif was released from HMP Wandsworth the day after being found not guilty of a breach of the sex offender register’s requirements.

Another prisoner released in error, 35-year-old William "Billy" Smith, handed himself into HMP Wandsworth earlier today - here's the moment it happened.

Justice Secretary David Lammy says he "is as shocked as anyone" by the errors, and that he'll "leave no stone unturned" to fix this.

He has previously admitted the prison system is in crisis - with reports of overcrowding, poor security and "squalid" conditions.

Lammy has been facing mounting criticism throughout the day, as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says Lammy had answers "which he refused to give" - who's said what?

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he's "angry and frustrated" over the mistaken releases, but that the Labour government recognises it's their job to fix it.

He also says it's right that the justice secretary was "setting out the facts to the best of his knowledge" when asked about the incidents during Prime Minister's Questions.

We're now ending our live coverage, but you can keep up to date in our news story.

As police continue their search for Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, the justice secretary is facing mounting criticism.

We've recently heard from David Lammy himself and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Here's what we've heard throughout the day:

• PM Keir Starmer says he is "angry and frustrated". He vows that his government will "step up and fix this"
• Justice Secretary David Lammy says he'll "leave no stone unturned to fix this". He earlier said he was "not equipped with all of the detail" when asked about the mistaken releases at PMQs
• Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick says Lammy "has either lied or has absolutely no clue what's going on in his department"
• Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch agrees, she says it’s "quite clear" David Lammy had answers "which he refused to give" in the Commons on Wednesday
• Chris Atkins, a former HMP Wandsworth inmate, says the facility was "absolute chaos on a daily basis"

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy says the mistaken prisoner releases are "completely unacceptable" and that he will "leave no stone unturned to fix this".

He says that he is "as shocked as anyone" by the prisoners being released in error.

In a post on X, he blames "years of cuts" which have "hollowed out the system". Earlier, the prime minister blamed the Conservative government for "the burden and strain on the system".

He adds that, looking to the long term, he is "standing up a digital rapid response unit" that will be in prisons within 48 hours.

He says the unit will "reduce some of the human error".

Chair of the Justice Select Committee, Andy Slaughter, says the government needs to take some "emergency steps" in the next few months - but that long-term changes to the prison system is a "project of years".

He says the events of the last few days have "shone a light on a crisis within the prison service".

Prisoners being mistakenly released every week is "not a sign of the occasional human error, that's a sign of the system that is in crisis," he tells the BBC.

"The overall impact of overcrowding, the rug problem, inexperienced and not enough staff - all of those problems accumulatively mean there is not enough control as there should be inside prisons," he adds.

Last week, Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was implementing the "strongest release checks that have ever been in place".

This came after migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly released from prison.

The government then ordered governors to carry out new procedures to avoid a repeat of Kebatu's mistaken release from HMP Chelmsford on 24 October - which led to a manhunt and his eventual arrest in London.

He was deported on 28 October.

Since then, two more prisoners have mistakenly been released.

These extra checks have since been criticised by senior prison staff, who told BBC News they will increase workload and put more pressure on a system already struggling to cope.

Lammy has asked Dame Lynne Owens to carry out a review on the mistaken prisoner releases - we have more on the review in our story.

• Prisons begin extra checks after migrant released in error

Some more now from Starmer, who says it is “right” that Justice Secretary David Lammy was "setting out the facts to the best of his knowledge".

On Thursday, the justice secretary said Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was mistakenly released before new checks were implemented.

Speaking in the Commons last Monday, Lammy had said those checks were effective immediately, two days before the wrongful release.

When asked about the discrepancy, the prime minister said: "David Lammy can speak for himself on that. And I’m absolutely clear that he’s setting out the facts to the best of his knowledge, and that’s the right thing for him to do."

"Whatever the checks, it’s intolerable," he adds.

Image source, BBC Pool

We're now hearing from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is speaking following a day of climate talks in Brazil.

He says he's "angry and frustrated" at the mistaken release of prisoners and says the error is "intolerable", no matter what checks were made.

He blames the Conservative government for "the burden and strain on the system" and urges that whatever changes are needed will be made.

“But I recognise it’s our job to step up and to fix this, and we will," he adds.

"We've now got to pick this up and roll up our sleeves," Starmer says. "We've got to take action here."

A former inmate of Wandsworth prison says the facility was "absolute chaos on a daily basis".

Chris Atkins, who has written A Bit of a Stretch about his time in the prison, recalls being asked to do the prison register himself several times.

He tells the BBC there were "far too few officers, and far too many prisoners" during his time spent there in 2016.

"The system is finally falling apart," Atkins says, adding that the mistaken release of prisoners is "something that happens all the time".

Because of a reliance on pen and paper over digital tools, clerical errors happen due to the misreading of handwriting, he adds.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Out of complexity, simplicity. The justice system in England and Wales is repeatedly failing in that most basic of its tasks – who should be in prison and who shouldn't.

Fanciful escapes from jail are no longer de rigueur it seems, when so many are let out the front gate by accident.

David Lammy’s difficult inheritance as justice secretary – he’s done the job for two months – unfortunately garnished, his critics say, by his own handling of it.

But it is also true that of all the things Labour took on when they won last year, as colossal messes go, the justice system was at or near the top. Sufficiently so it probably contributed to Rishi Sunak’s decision to call the general election months early, so spectacularly was the system creaking.

It is Labour’s problem now, though.

And it is at its sharpest politically when transparent recurring failure in the justice system overlaps with transparent recurring failure in the immigration system – whether that is small boats, or legal migration.

In other words, exactly what’s happened in the last week or so.

Stark, instantly understood case studies in state failure, in an era where there is a sticky vibe that says – fairly or otherwise -- nothing works any more.

Image source, Getty Images

As we have reported, 262 prisoners were released in error during the last year.

Reasons for errors can include "misplaced warrants", "sentence miscalculation" and "discharging the wrong person on escort", the government says, external.

Prison overcrowding makes the problem worse.

In August, the government published an independent review of prison capacity, external - and the findings were damning.

The prison system "came within days of collapse on several occasions" during the review period, which covered 2022-2024.

The report describes prisoners being moved "in and out of prisons and police cells", and transferred "from one part of an overheated prison system to another" to make space.

On the ground, prison staff were left "trying to avoid releases in error while implementing ever-changing and increasingly complex release schemes," the report says.

Angus Thompson
Live reporter

Prison officers' union chairman Mark Fairhurst tells me many wrongful prison releases are due to clerical errors in the courts.

The BBC understands William Smith's mistaken release was due to an error in the courts, while Fairhurst says he understands Brahim Kaddour-Cherif's release was due to "a mix up with the warrants" after he appeared in court.

"A hell of a lot of releases in error are actually from the courts," he says, adding that prison staff are reliant on often hard-copy documentation being passed from court staff.

• The BBC has contacted the Ministry of Justice for comment

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

Image source, Metropolitan Police

• Our previous post looked at some of Kaddour-Cherif's history of court appearances and prosecutions

By June 2025, records show Kaddour-Cherif was inside Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, near Heathrow Airport. That suggests there was a plan to remove him from the UK.

But by late July he had left that institution. We know this because he was arrested in September by the Met Police on suspicion of breaching the sex offender’s register - the allegation being he had failed to notify officers that he had left custody.

After that arrest, he was taken to Wandsworth Prison, from where he was later released.

That came after after he had been found not guilty of the alleged breach of the sex offender register’s requirements. Kaddour-Cherif had denied the charge and City of London Magistrates Court dismissed the case against him.

But Mark Fairhurst, from the Prison Officers Association, tells BBC News he believes there was a clerical error by the court, because governors were not aware, after that acquittal, that Kaddour-Cherif was facing further court dates on other matters.

"It’s my understanding that there was a mix up with the warrants," he says.

"So when that person returned from court, we didn’t actually have the authority to hold him in custody, because we didn’t have a further warrant which outlined those further charges.

"So somewhere along the way, there’s been a clerical error."

We know from government statements that the 24-year-old was in the early stages of deportation at the time of his release. Outstanding criminal cases would be a reason for any proposed removal from the UK to have been delayed by the Home Office.

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

The BBC has established that Brahim Kaddour-Cherif - who police are still looking for - was released from Wandsworth Prison the day after being found not guilty of a breach of the sex offender register’s requirements.

Prison officers’ representatives say there was no warrant from the court to hold him.

That acquittal - and his subsequent release - was the most recent incident in a complex series of prosecutions and court appearances dating back two years.

All of these cases came around three years after he was first flagged in February 2020 as a probable visa-overstayer.

It’s not clear what, if any, steps were taken at that time to remove him from the country.

Court records reveal that the 24-year-old has been accused of 11 offences since September 2023 - his conviction and sentence for an indecent exposure, committed in March 2024, being one of them.

Another offence he admitted was assault of a police officer. He pleaded guilty to that offence and possession of cocaine, both also committed in March 2024, at a hearing in February this year.

He separately admitted a relatively minor charge of assaulting a man in public, receiving a conditional discharge plus an order to pay the victim £100 in compensation.

In July 2024, Kaddour Cherif admitted the indecent exposure allegation. His sentencing for that was put off a number of times - and in October 2024 Westminster Magistrates Court remanded him in custody in relation to that matter.

He was held in Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London and then received an 18-month community order and was placed on the sex offender register for five years. That register requires an offender to report there whereabouts to the police.

• We'll have more on Brahim Kaddour-Cherif's past in our next post

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The stern appearance of Wandsworth prison is enough to make grown people shudder.

Based in leafy south-west London, the Victorian-era facility - with its gaunt brick walls and a dark intimidating entrance - is one of the largest in the UK.

The inside is just as intimidating. Having visited several years ago, I was struck by the smell of urine from the gutters that line the cell blocks.

I've been inside several prisons during my career but this was by far the worst.

Like many prisons, it suffers from overcrowding and has almost double the number of inmates it was designed to house.

The prison is not known for having robust security. Only a couple of years ago, Daniel Khalife, who was on remand awaiting trial for breaching the Official Secrets Act, escaped by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery truck.

The mistaken release of two prisoners in a week has once again drawn attention to the Category B jail.

One serving prison officer from the jail described the security as a "joke".

They told me: "It's crazy in there and mistakes are constantly happening. There is a real state of panic after this blunder and I'm thinking about whether I can take much more of this job when stuff like this happens and makes us look like idiots."

• You can read more in my story

As the search for sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif continues, here's a look at what's happened in the last few hours:

• Justice Secretary David Lammy says he was "not equipped with all of the detail" to tell the House of Commons about Kaddour-Cherif's mistaken release when he was pushed on the issue at PMQs
• His comments come as a manhunt is continuing into the evening for the 24-year-old Algerian national
• Another prisoner who was mistakenly released from Wandsworth prison, William "Billy" Smith, handed himself in earlier today - watch the moment it happened
• The Conservatives have criticised Lammy for refusing to give MPs answers that he quite clearly held at PMQs
• Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats say the government has "serious questions to answer" in order to rebuild public confidence in the justice system
• As the inquest over the mistaken release continues, we've been hearing how complex calculations on prisoner release schedules are done with pen and paper

Stick with us here, and we'll keep you updated with any developments.

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

Image source, PA Media

I’m told the justice secretary’s words about wanting to grip the problem were well received by prison governors.

There was a productive conversation - with one source who knows of the meeting describing as a "positive experience".

The only concern relayed to David Lammy was whether this focus on mistaken releases was overshadowing other problems across the penal estate such as violence, intake of drugs, and overcrowding.

There was a reassurance that it wouldn’t.

Image source, PA Media

Inmates being released in error are "neither rare nor hidden", according to a detailed statement from the Prison Governors Association trade union.

It points to a recent government HM Prison and Probation Service report stating that in the last full reporting year, 262 prisoners were released in error, averaging around 65 incidents per quarter.

"These errors include individuals released either too early or too late from their sentence, both scenarios carry serious consequences and undermine public confidence," PGA says.

The trade union says the figures illustrate a system that is "running hot" and "under constant strain".

Overcrowding remains an issue, particularly at HMP Wandsworth - which, according to The Howard League, is operating at 167% of its safe capacity.

PGA adds: "Decisions made to stabilise one prison - such as reducing capacity or increasing staffing - often have unintended, negative consequences elsewhere. Today, it feels as though every move to ease pressure in one part of the system simply shifts the burden to another."

Image source, Metropolitan Police

A little over an hour ago we heard from David Lammy, who mentioned how he has asked Dame Lynne Owens to carry out a review on mistaken prisoner releases.

Who is Dame Lynne Owens?

She was formerly the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, the force's second in command.

How long will the review take?

The report and any recommendations are due to be submitted to Lammy and the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice within eight weeks.

What will it consider?

As part of her inquiries, Owens will consult the family of the 14-year-old victim of Hadush Kebatu, the sex offender mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford last month. Kebatu's other victim will also be consulted.

It will consider:

• Whether the relevant protocols around prisoner discharge were in place at HMP Chelmsford
• If staff had sufficient experience, training, tools and technology to apply them appropriately
• The extent to which the protocols were properly complied with
• What has caused a "spike" in releases in error across the prison estate
• Whether the existing protocols and operating procedures that govern prisoner discharges are sufficiently robust
• And make recommendations that can be implemented to reduce the likelihood of a repeat incident

More on the review and what lead to it here.

Prison spending above pre-austerity levels after falling by over £1bnpublished at 16:13 GMT 6 November

16:13 GMT 6 November

By Nicholas Barrett

As the pressure grows around the mistaken release of several prisoners, Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones told the BBC’s Today programme this morning that the government “inherited a prison system that has been chronically underfunded thanks to 14 years of austerity”.

Day-to-day spending on prisons in England and Wales fell by £1bn in real terms, or almost 20%, between 2010 and 2016 under the coalition and then Conservative government, according to data from the Institute for Government think tank.

Financial figures when expressed in real terms means they have been adapted to factor in rising prices, known as inflation.

After 2016 spending on prisons started to increase again and by the time the Conservative Party left government in 2024, real terms spending was higher than it had been in 2010.

But, a rise in numbers of people in prison since 2020 means that spending per prisoner has remained flat for five years.