The mistaken release of a migrant sex offender happened against a backdrop of a prison system in “chaos” with staff struggling to apply “constant” policy changes and manually calculating sentences because of a faulty computer system, The i Paper has been told.
Prisons across England and Wales on Monday began carrying out additional checks ordered by ministers after Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu, serving a 12-month sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl, was released in error from HMP Chelmsford.
Kebatu, who was supposed to have been handed over to immigration services for deportation, was eventually arrested in a London park on Sunday after an intense two-day manhunt.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised an investigation to “make sure this doesn’t happen again”. Justice Secretary David Lammy has insisted that a sharp rise in releases of prisoners in error is a result of the Government inheriting a “collapsing” prison system from the Conservatives.
But a union leader and prison officers said that the release of Kebatu, who is now expected to be deported “imminently”, was “unsurprising” as they painted a picture of a release system in disarray as staff grapple with the effects of efforts by the Government to cut overcrowding with early release schemes.
A computer system designed to automate the calculation of release dates has “failed to function as planned”, adding problems by allegedly leaving staff to work out complex release calculations by hand using calculators.
Insiders said a particular problem exists in the overlap between the prison and immigration detention systems, with prisons at the mercy of “disorganised” Home Office processes used to order the retention and transfer of foreign nationals due for deportation.
Mike Rolfe, general secretary of the Criminal Justice Workers Union, said teams in Offender Management Units (OMUs), which are in charge of administering prisoner sentences, are working “under extreme strain” and blame for the current problems lies with Labour ministers, including Justice Secretary David Lammy.
Mr Rolfe said: “Their failure to adequately address the prison capacity crisis, fund the system, and recognise the critical work of OMU teams has left the prison and immigration systems reliant on overstretched staff and temporary fixes rather than sustainable solutions.”
A prison officer at HMP Chelmsford has been suspended from active duties as a result of Kebatu’s erroneous release. But The i Paper has been told that it is unlikely that a single error by one individual was responsible in a system that has become “hugely complex”.
One senior officer said: “It is both improbable and unfair to pin [Kebatu’s release] on a single individual. The problem is systemic – you have overworked staff administering what has become a hugely complex process with multiple caveats and variations. Mistakes of this nature are all but inevitable.”
Figures produced by the Ministry of Justice show that the number of prisoners released in error has increased more than fivefold in the last five years, with 262 inmates freed mistakenly in the 12 months to this March, compared to 46 in 2020-21. Between April 2023 and this year, the number of releases in error increased by 115 per cent.
The bulk of mistaken releases in the most recent 12-month period appear to relate to a narrow issue with offenders who had breached restraining orders, which has since been resolved.
But insiders insist the release of Kebatu is symptomatic of wider problems caused by immigration processes and multiple early release schemes implemented in recent years to alleviate chronic overcrowding as the prison population is predicted to rise to as much as 105,000 by 2029.
Mr Rolfe said: “This incident is, unfortunately, unsurprising. The Home Office’s immigration processes are frequently disorganised, and prison OMU teams are under extreme strain – understaffed, underfunded, and facing ever-changing government policies on release and sentence management.”
Successive governments have introduced early release schemes to try to cope with the situation. This summer jails in England and Wales were running at more than 98 per cent of capacity – above the 95 per cent level judged to be safe and effective.
A Labour policy to reduce the prison population by authorising the release of inmates after they have served 40 per cent – rather than the previous 50 per cent – of certain sentences, as well as reducing the timeframe after which foreign prisoners can be deported, was leading to “chaos” for prison managers.
Mr Rolfe said staff were routinely recalculating sentences and release dates using pen and paper after software designed to take over the process fell short of its intended purpose. He said: “Although a new electronic system was intended to automate these processes, it has failed to function as planned, leaving staff to continue complex calculations manually.”
Insiders said problems were particularly acute for so-called Category B prisons such as HMP Chelmsford which are used to house a wide range of inmates, including those held on remand, convicted individuals and foreign prisoners sentenced to more than 12 months who will eventually be deported.
The result is a rapid turnover of populations, with Chelmsford estimated to be releasing or transferring more than 2,100 prisoners a year.
In cases where foreign prisoners reach the point of becoming eligible for deportation, the Home Office is expected to issue a document known as an IS91, which instructs a prison to retain an inmate in custody unless or until they are moved to an immigration detention centre.
Mr Rolfe said it was possible that in the case of Kebatu, who was seen by a witness appearing to repeatedly query with staff why he had been released, this document had either not been issued or had not been received in time by the prison. “This type of error is not uncommon, as the Home Office often fails to make detention decisions in advance,” he said.
When approached for comment, the Home Office pointed to a statement from Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood saying that Kebatu will be deported “as quickly as possible”.
Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, acknowledged on Monday that mistakes over prisoner releases are happening “all the time” and represent an “endemic problem” that needs to be fixed by leaders in the Prison Service. He added that the service needs to be held to account for ensuring that OMUs have sufficient trained staff and resources to carry out their tasks.
Lammy was expected to provide a statement on the Kebatu case to Parliament on Monday.
