The Metropolitan Police manhunt continues for a convicted sex offender mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth last week, as it emerged the prison’s governor was absent investigating another jail’s release error when the blunder occurred at the local institution less than a mile from Putney town centre.
Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was freed from Wandsworth on 29 October and so six days passed before police were even notified of the mistake. He remains at large with links to Westminster and Tower Hamlets.
However, Surrey Police confirmed this morning that William Smith, 35, who was mistakenly released hours after being sentenced to 45 months for fraud on Monday, has handed himself in and is back in custody.
Governor’s absence during local prison crisis
It now appears that Wandsworth’s governor, Andy Davy, was not at the prison when Kaddour-Cherif was released because he had been tasked with leading the Prison Service’s own investigation into how migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly freed from HMP Chelmsford in Essex just a week earlier, on 24 October.
Inside Time revealed last week that Davy had been appointed to lead an unpublicised Prison Service inquiry into the Chelmsford error – separate from the independent investigation chaired by Dame Lynne Owens that Justice Secretary David Lammy announced to Parliament. The Ministry of Justice had not made Davy’s investigation public and declined to comment when approached by Inside Time.
The revelation raises serious questions for local residents about oversight at their neighbourhood prison during a critical period. With the governor pulled away to investigate errors at another jail, mistakes occurred at Wandsworth in his absence.
What Putney and Wandsworth residents still need to know
The unfolding crisis at the local prison has left three key questions still requiring answers:
Why was Kaddour-Cherif mistakenly released from Wandsworth? While Smith’s release resulted from a court clerical error that saw his custodial sentence wrongly entered as suspended, the reason for Kaddour-Cherif’s release from the local prison has not been disclosed.
Why were police only told six days later? Kaddour-Cherif was released from Wandsworth on 29 October, but the Metropolitan Police were not informed until 4 November. No explanation has been provided for the delay in reporting the error at the local institution.
Why didn’t the extra checks work at Wandsworth? Justice Secretary David Lammy promised “the toughest ever” checks after the Chelmsford error, yet the double blunder at the local prison occurred just days later.
Local MP “horrified” by releases
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour MP for Tooting where the prison is located, said she was “horrified” by the mistaken release and has written to both Justice Secretary David Lammy and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood demanding answers.
“I’m horrified to learn that someone was mistakenly released from Wandsworth Prison with such a shocking list of offences,” she said. “Local residents will quite rightly be deeply concerned. We urgently need answers from the Government and Ministry of Justice as to how this was allowed to happen.”
Andy Slaughter, chair of the Justice Committee and Labour MP for Hammersmith and Chiswick, called the releases “extremely concerning” and said they “speak to a wider justice system at breaking point”.
He added: “Evidence taken by the Justice Committee has laid bare a crisis-hit prison system, starved of investment over many years, which is facing multi-faceted pressures, including overcrowding and understaffing within a decaying prison estate characterised by chaos and instability.”
A justice minister admitted this morning that prisons “won’t be fixed overnight”, with Alex Davies-Jones telling BBC Breakfast the justice system is in “crisis”.
Former prisons minister Rory Stewart, who served under Theresa May, told BBC Radio 5 Live that a lack of training is the key problem, with prison officers doing “very complicated jobs” without adequate support.
“Serious training colleges” are needed, Stewart suggested, while admitting: “I and other Tories have a lot of responsibility here.”
Wandsworth errors part of national crisis
The errors at the local prison are part of a dramatic national increase in mistaken releases. Government figures published in July showed 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025 – a 128% increase on the 115 mistaken releases in the previous 12 months.
According to the Prison Officers’ Association, five other inmates were released in error in the same week as Kebatu’s mistaken release from Chelmsford.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor has said mistakes are happening “all the time” and are symptomatic of chaos within the prison system.
HMP Wandsworth was placed in special measures in 2024 following serious concerns about its operations. While Governor Davy has been making inroads into the prison’s longstanding problems since his appointment in May 2024, the most recent inspection report made clear there is still “a very long way to go”.
Davy is seen as a rising star of the Prison Service and was credited by inspectors for bringing “energy and focus” to Wandsworth during his first year in charge. He was appointed after the previous governor resigned during an inspection visit.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has ordered an independent investigation led by Dame Lynne Owens into the wider pattern of mistaken releases across the prison estate.
Manhunt continues for Kaddour-Cherif
Met Police Commander Paul Trevers said: “Cherif has had a six-day head start but we are working urgently to close the gap and establish his whereabouts. We will continue to use all the means at our disposal but we are also appealing for the public’s help to find him.”
Kaddour-Cherif, an Algerian national who also uses variations of his first name including Ibrahim, was serving a sentence for trespass with intent to steal and had previously been convicted of indecent exposure. He was placed on the sex offenders register for five years following a November 2024 conviction.
Members of the public who spot Kaddour-Cherif are urged not to approach him but to contact the Metropolitan Police immediately.
