11.6

Britain's overstretched prisons are releasing inmates by mistake The episode is a justice secretary's worst nightmare. An asylum-seeker arrives on a small boat, and is arrested days later for sexual assault of a woman and a 14-year-old schoolgirl. Protests outside the hotel that housed him follow; dozens of protesters are arrested and the offender is eventually sentenced to 12 months in prison. After a few weeks he is accidentally released. Hadush Kebatu, from Ethiopia, was awaiting deportation after his sentencing, but a comedy of errors led to his release from Chelmsford prison. Mr Kebatu was meant to remain in custody, but instead was instructed to take a train to find an immigration-removal centre. Seemingly wanting to follow these instructions, though thoroughly confused, he returned to the prison's reception multiple times before making his way to the train station and on to London, where he was caught again two days later. On October 28th he was deported to Ethiopia. Mistaken releases, where a prisoner had no intent of escaping, have surged at prisons in England and Wales, to 262 in 2024-25. This is more than double the number of the previous year, and nearly five times the average of the prior 15 years. Such errors show that prison services' resources are stretched. Overcrowding is leading to a higher churn of prisoners and increased administrative burden on inexperienced staff, warns Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons. As blunders go, this was an especially impressive one. It won't be the last.