Can you believe this has happened again

Allira

Apparently there are 844 men in UK prisons with the surname Smith.

Anyway, I think he turned himself in, I don't blame him, I expect he was hungry and weather is awful.

Not all in the same prison tho 😂

We need to pay more taxes to improve our public services

Yes. Honest, straightforward taxes.

Apparently there are 844 men in UK prisons with the surname Smith.

Anyway, I think he turned himself in, I don't blame him, I expect he was hungry and weather is awful.

mum2three

I wonder if it has anything to do with their names? Foreign names must be confusing for British people and it's easy to see how mistakes could happen. Not making excuses just voicing a possible explanation. Inefficiency seems to be the norm in all areas of life these days.

Billy Smith sounds terribly English!! 😁

And another one released in error. Lammy confirmed it this afternoon.

That makes 91 released in error since end of April.

It’s like banging the head on the brick wall. Posters here who have worked in or with our criminal justice system shouted that austerity would be disastrous for our country. Being right is no consolation

Austerity under Conservatives led to thousands of experienced prison officers replaced by 18 year olds, with little life experience and introductory training over a few weeks. Our prisons have only ever run relatively peacefully because inmates cooperate. Look what happened at hmp Manchester when prisoners decided not to cooperate.

As others have pointed out, accidental releases happened frequently under the Conservatives.

Lammy was a hopeless embarrassment at PMQs. Evidently and obviously he’d been prepared for the question but seems to have gone rogue. He should have anticipated, made the announcement before being asked, or answered honestly, yes I’ve been informed, efforts being made, will update this house when I know more.

Our cjs needs investment at every level. We need to pay more taxes to improve our public services

And another! Ola Abimbola is serving a 21 year sentence for kidnap, GBH and possession of an offensive weapon in public! This charmer walked out of Ford Open prison on Oct 16th and has not been seen since.

How a criminal with that dreadful record can even be in an open prison is beyond me. Utter madness. He could be anywhere which is a very scary thought.

The Prison Service appears to be overwhelmed, partly by the increase of people in custody, and the early release of prisoners.
Meanwhile, Starmer leaves the country. Again.

He is the Prime Minister and he has to assume control if he is to retain any credibility.

Lammy did himself no good at all, he was obviously not well prepared, he should have come back at the Tories for their record. Prisons are run by humans they make mistakes, no doubt helped by inmates being obstructive.

Starmer does not appear to be a good judge of Deputy PM- again

mum2three

I wonder if it has anything to do with their names? Foreign names must be confusing for British people and it's easy to see how mistakes could happen. Not making excuses just voicing a possible explanation. Inefficiency seems to be the norm in all areas of life these days.

Billy and Smith don't sound very foreign to me.

mum2three

I wonder if it has anything to do with their names? Foreign names must be confusing for British people and it's easy to see how mistakes could happen. Not making excuses just voicing a possible explanation. Inefficiency seems to be the norm in all areas of life these days.

Apparently they released Billy Smith instead of another prisoner called Smith.

I wonder if it has anything to do with their names? Foreign names must be confusing for British people and it's easy to see how mistakes could happen. Not making excuses just voicing a possible explanation. Inefficiency seems to be the norm in all areas of life these days.

Thanks for the replies, GNs.
So, not a new problem.

pably15

I've just been watching the news at one o'clock, and they're saying that a prisoner's on the run from Wandsworth prison after being released by mistake ...again...why not just give them the keys to the prison and let them come and go as they please

Indeed. Fayaz Khan has been sending out videos of himself having great parties in prison.

The unthinkable seems to have become normal.

I don't think anyone in Government has actually run a business themselves, it's all spreadsheets and consultations with people that have just left university.

growstuff

Primrose53

*growstuff” One was an Algerian sex offender who was here illegally although not an asylum seeker (as originally stated by media) having overstayed.

The other (Billy Smith) was a fraudster. He was mistakenly released after something like 74 hours.

Lammy clearly couldn’t be bothered either.

So they aren't asylum seekers!!! I'm sure you know the difference.

I couldn't be bothered looking back on the sources because I was almost sure I hadn't misremembered and was busy with something else. (I know you just love having a dig at me.)

Yes, you read my post correctly. I said “not an asylum seeker”.

As I have said now several times, originally the news said he was an asylum seeker. later in the day it was reported that he was not an asylum seeker but he was here illegally. It was the same at PMQ yesterday if you remember which is how Lammy tried to wriggle out of answering the questions. He had the chance there and then to say “the person you are talking about is not an asylum seeker but he is here illegally and should not have been released at all.”

Maremia

Did this ever happen before Labour came to power?

Yes it's been going on for years....since Tory cuts to the prison services!

Oreo

Grantanow

Lammy completely lost it at PMQs. Very poor performance. Rises to the bait too easily. Not a good choice for Deputy PM.

No he really isn’t, a DPM needs to stay calm and articulate.

I can think of a few seemingly calm and articulate politicians who have practically wrecked this country.

Billy Smith has handed himself in.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

So, the same thing happened under the Tories.
Weird, I don't remember any outrage on GN's.
Strange that.

Maremia

Did this ever happen before Labour came to power?

Yes it did. (see above post by DaisyAnneReturns for just one example)

Oreo

Then he should have told what he knew, and what the Opposition obvs knew as well.The truth!

Exactly Oreo but he doesn't know what truth is.

Grantanow

Lammy completely lost it at PMQs. Very poor performance. Rises to the bait too easily. Not a good choice for Deputy PM.

No he really isn’t, a DPM needs to stay calm and articulate.

Then he should have told what he knew, and what the Opposition obvs knew as well.The truth!

He was specifically asked if any asylum seekers had been released accidentally.

They hadn't but did he know if they were an assylum seeker at that point? He obviously knew they were a foreign national.
As many on here have repeatedly explained - not necessarily the same.