Prisons & Probation – Latest News:
- Thu, 06 Nov 2025 19:14:21 +0000: Lammy says he was right not to discuss mistakenly freed prisoner at PMQs - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Justice secretary says he did not have ‘all the detail’ at the time and there is ‘mountain to climb’ on prisons crisis
David Lammy has said the government has “a mountain to climb” to tackle the prisons crisis and insisted he was “not equipped with all the detail” when questioned in parliament the previous day about a mistaken prisoner release.
After a fraudster mistakenly freed from prison handed himself in on Thursday, the justice secretary said he had been right not to provide details to MPs at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday about the release of a sex offender who remains at large.
Continue reading... - Thu, 06 Nov 2025 18:55:16 +0000: The Guardian view on mistaken prisoner releases: a broken system not human error | Editorial - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Recent cases of prisoners let go by mistake rightly disturb the public. But they reflect the overstretched and underfunded criminal justice architecture
Any mistaken release of a prisoner is a blow to the criminal justice system and creates a danger to public safety and confidence. So is any escape, abscondment or failure to return after temporary release. Failures of this kind nevertheless occur every year in the UK penal systems – not regularly, but often enough for governments to produce annual statistics about them. They are particularly alarming malfunctions in what is already a seriously flawed and pressurised system.
The mistaken release of two separate prisoners from the same prison, however, is unusually disturbing. Human error seemingly played a part in allowing William Smith to walk out of HMP Wandsworth on Monday, the day he had been sentenced to 45 months for several fraud offences. That was bad enough. But the fact that he turned himself in on Thursday at the prison gates without being caught by a police manhunt simply compounds the record of official incompetence.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading... - Thu, 06 Nov 2025 18:32:38 +0000: Why doesn’t Lammy just bring in a new policy of accidentally jailing people? | John Crace - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Justice secretary seemed to be the only person not being released, as he hid from questions about latest prison mishaps
It was a message of defiance. A show of strength from the justice department. The system may be in crisis but there was leadership at the very top. There was one prisoner who was most definitely not getting an accidental early release. And that was the justice secretary himself.
After his distinctly disastrous showing – he had the shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, to thank for it not being far worse – while standing in for Keir Starmer at prime minister’s questions, David Lammy has been kept banged up on 15-minute observation watch by civil servants and advisers inside the department. Allowed out of his office only under electronic tag for toilet breaks.
Continue reading... - Thu, 06 Nov 2025 17:51:18 +0000: Ben Jennings on the prison overcrowding crisis in England and Wales – cartoon - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Continue reading... - Thu, 06 Nov 2025 17:22:18 +0000: Lammy says he was not ‘equipped with the details’ when facing questions on mistaken prisoner release at PMQs – as it happened - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here
David Lammy, the deputy PM and justice secretary, has welcomed the fact that Billy Smith is back in custody, but described the spike in release mistakes as “unacceptable”.
According to PA Media, Lammy said:
William Smith is back in custody. The spike in mistaken releases is unacceptable.
We’re modernising prison systems – replacing paper with digital tools to cut errors.
Continue reading...