UK Prison System in ‘Utter Chaos’ as Hundreds of Prisoners Mistakenly Released

Accidental Releases Spark Alarm and Widen Government Pressure

A British minister revealed on Thursday that several prisoners are mistakenly released from British prisons each week, exposing the growing scale of a crisis that was recently brought to light by the wrongful release of a migrant sex offender.

The problem, which compounds pressure on the UK government as it grapples with severely overcrowded prisons and a struggling immigration system, has been described by one official as being in “utter chaos.”

The Scale of the Problem

The government estimates that 262 prisoners were mistakenly released in the 12 months leading up to March 2025. This alarming figure marks the fourth consecutive year of increase and is more than double the 115 accidental releases reported the previous year.

The issue gained significant public attention last month with the mistaken release of Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an Ethiopian asylum seeker and sex offender. His subsequent three-day manhunt and deportation only intensified pressure on the government. Kebatu’s initial arrest had already triggered anti-immigration protests outside an asylum seeker hotel in Epping, north of London.

Further fueling concerns this week were reports of two more mistaken releases, including an Algerian national who was on the sex offenders register and had overstayed his visa.

Blame and Proposed Fixes

Alex Davies-Jones, a minister in the justice department, did not mince words, telling Times Radio, “The system is in utter chaos.”

Davies-Jones blamed the crisis on 14 years of “chronic austerity and underfunding in our public services,” as well as the previous Conservative government’s failure to build enough new prisons, noting that the number of inmates in England and Wales has doubled in the last 30 years.

Justice Minister and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has also faced increased scrutiny over the mistakes. Lammy told parliament on Wednesday that he had toughened the rules to fix the problem, though he did not immediately disclose that he had been aware of the recent mistakes when making the statement.

Davies-Jones detailed the government’s plan to tackle the issue, stating: “We are deporting more foreign prisoners than ever before.” She added that the government will implement a change where they will be “deporting them on sentencing, rather than waiting for them to serve time in our prisons.”

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• Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu Case Highlights UK Prison Overcrowding Crisis
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