Algerian man rearrested in UK after accidental release

LONDON (AFP) — An Algerian man who was accidentally released early from prison was rearrested by London police on Friday, with the U.K. government under fire over multiple similar mix-ups in recent weeks.

“Officers have arrested Brahim Kaddour Cherif who was released in error,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement over a week after the blunder occurred.

Multiple mistaken releases have embarrassed Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s struggling government, under fire on several fronts including immigration and concerns about the beleaguered prison system.

Cherif, 24, who was wrongly freed from a London jail on Oct. 29, was found in the British capital, after another fellow prisoner who was also released early, Billy Smith, handed himself in on Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy faced questions from parliamentarians earlier this week over the mix-up involving Cherif, a registered sex offender.

Lammy has said the errors were “completely unacceptable,” blaming funding cuts in previous years and announcing stronger security checks.

Just last month, Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian asylum-seeker convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, was mistakenly released from prison before being recaptured following a 48-hour manhunt.

The U.K. government then deported Kebatu, giving him £500 ($661) to leave the country, and launched an independent investigation into his accidental release.

His arrest this summer had sparked riots outside the hotel northeast of London where he was being housed alongside dozens of asylum-seekers, who have become the target of public anger over immigration — fueled by far-right upstarts Reform UK.

Figures showed 262 people were mistakenly freed from prison between March 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the 21 months previously.

Starmer defended his deputy, who was accused of avoiding questions about Cherif’s early release, saying that Lammy was “setting out the facts to the best of his knowledge.”

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By Agence France-Presse