Billy Smith and Brahim Kaddour-Cherif were at large for multiple days
The mistaken release of a foreign prisoner at HMP Wandsworth has put the scandal-hit Victorian jail in the headlines once again. Algerian inmate Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was arrested in Finsbury Park earlier today (November 7) – nine days after he was accidentally released.
This happened less than a week after migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu was freed in error at HMP Chelmsford instead of being taken to a immigration removal centre. While prison mistakes are in the news cycle, chaos at HMP Wandsworth has previously been laid bare through a high-profile prisoner escape.
In September 2023, former soldier Daniel Khalife, later found guilty for spying for Iran, escaped from the south-west London jail by clinging to the underside of a food delivery truck. He was caught by a plainclothes detective just three days later.
In 2024, HM Inspectorate of Prisons said the turmoil they found at “severely overcrowded” HMP Wandsworth was the result of “sustained decline permitted to happen in plain view of leaders”, despite an investment of almost ÂŁ900,000 since the escape. But in the latest review of the prison in April this year, the watchdog noted a new governor has brought “energy and focus” to the prison, and was prioritising safety and decency.
Inspectors found “substantial investment” in staffing and training but overall level of experience were low. In October, a further report by HMP Wandsworth’s independent monitoring board (IMB) found staffing was a recurrent problem, with an average of a third of staff absent a day.
You can see a rundown of recent blunders below:
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