More than 260 prisoners released in error in just one year MOJ admits

A STAGGERING 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to the end of March 31 this year, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has said.

A furter 91 have been released in error from April 1 to October 31 this year.

The MOJ released details following a number of high profile releases in error this month, November 2025.

An MOJ spokesperson said: "Examples of releases in error may include misplaced warrants for imprisonment or remand, recall notices not acted upon or sentence miscalculation, where a prisoner is released earlier than their correct release date, or where there is an error at the "point of final discharge. Releases in error from HMPPS could also be a result of errors by the court or other authorities.

If the person released is not aware of the error and makes no attempt to evade arrest, then they have committed no additional offence and in that sense, they may not be at fault. If it is believed that the situation was manipulated by the prisoner, for example by taking the identity of another person, then this will be classified as an escape, and not a release in error.

This data has been extracted from a live operational reporting system, with some additional manual reconciliation. As with any data extracted from administrative systems, it is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to revision if the underlying data changes.

Please note that this data is not directly comparable to releases in error volumes published in the HMPPS Annual Digest (latest publication: year-ending March 2025) due to the manual reconciliation of records conducted for this ad-hoc publication; possible effects of seasonality on release volumes; and the possibility of late recordings.

Due to the relatively low numbers of release in error, changes over time should be interpreted with caution and considered in the context of the number of releases in the same time period and changes in the operational environment."

Immediate action to clamp down on mistaken releases from prisons and restore public confidence in the criminal justice system has been announced by the Deputy Prime Minister today. 

Updating the House of Commons, David Lammy set out the decisive steps being taken to keep the public safe, including harnessing new technology to bear down on mistakes.

These new measures will help reverse the rising trend in release errors, which began under the last government, and keep offenders who should be in prison locked up.

A £10 million investment will see the roll out of new AI-powered tools to frontline staff so they can accurately calculate sentences and vital upgrades to the archaic paper-based systems accelerated. Currently, already under pressure prison staff are having to wade through more than 500 pages of guidance, making mistakes more likely.

The multi-million-pound pledge will be invested over the next six months and build on new digital crack-teams deployed to prisons last week to look at how cutting-edge technology can be used to bring down errors.

Further action includes:

• The Deputy Prime Minister will chair a new monthly Justice Performance Board to track how prisons and courts are performing

• Expanding Dame Lynne Owen’s independent review with a dedicated data team to review historic cases and understand systematic issues

• A fast-track courts hotline so prison staff can quickly check for outstanding warrants before offenders are released 

• Simplifying prisoner release policy to standardise how cases are treated and consider whether amendments are required to operational policy.   

Mr Lammy said: “The first duty of any Government is to keep the public safe. The rise in releases in error is one symptom of a service under intolerable strain. 

“We are putting in new guardrails around an archaic system, with tougher new checks, reviewing specific failings and modernising prison processes and joint working with courts – all to bear down on the increase in mistakes. 

“That is what victims deserve. That is what the public expects, and this Government will do what it takes to protect the public.”

A new Justice Performance Board will give the Deputy Prime Minister greater oversight of the system and drive improvements in prisons and criminal courts, laser-focussed on addressing key metrics including releases in error. The Board is bringing together the most senior officials within the Ministry of Justice and first met yesterday. It will continue to meet every month until performance improves.

A new urgent hotline staffed by court experts will allow prisons to quickly escalate queries relating to warrants – with rapid clarifications helping to reduce the risk of errors. Court staff must also now confirm orders verbally with judges before finalising them, and any late requests for changes must be sent directly to the relevant prison.

The measures include a relentless focus on data, with a new team of data scientists deployed to review all historic releases in error to understand what went wrong in every case.

This work will support the independent review, led by Dame Lynne Owens, launched last month into release errors across the prison estate which will be expanded to consider how accuracy and the transparency around mistaken release data can be improved. This review is expected to report back in February 2026. 

Release errors have been rising for many years and are symptomatic of the prison system crisis this Government inherited, with jails dangerously full and close to collapse.

Since coming into office, the government has taken decisive action to end the prison crisis, stabilising the immediate chaos inherited and rescuing the system before being able to make the long-term change needed.

An extra 14,000 prison places will be built by this government, while sentences will be overhauled to make sure we have enough prison places to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe. The Government has already delivered 2,500 new places in just over a year, as part of the biggest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era. The last Government added only 500 places to the prison estate in the previous 14 years.