It comes on top of the 91 prisoners who were freed by mistake between April and October in England and Wales. Speaking to the BBC, Lammy said there would always be a "human error" while prisons were using a paper-based system and that the situation would improve once a "completely digital system" was adopted. He said there had been "a spike" in accidental releases but added it was now on "a downward trajectory".

Speaking to ITV later, Lammy said he had been "reassured" that the two prisoners at large were not violent or sex offenders. "I'm not going to give details of those cases, because these are operational decisions made by the police, and you'll understand if they're about to arrest somebody they don't want me to blow the cover," he added. The subject of accidental releases gained attention after Hadush Kebatu, who was jailed after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman while living in an asylum hotel in Epping, was mistakenly freed. Kebatu was re-arrested two days after his release and has now been deported to Ethiopia.

Shortly after Kebatu's release, news emerged of two other prisoners who had been released in error - William Smith, who later handed himself in, and Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, who was rearrested. The cases led to the government implementing new security measures including a "clear checklist" for prison governors to follow when releasing prisoners. The latest releases happened since 11 November, when Lammy gave a statement to the House of Commons, outlining the steps the government was taking to resolve the issue. (BBC)