An appeal has been launched to find a burglar who has been on the run for five months after mistakenly being released from prison, Sussex Police have confirmed.
William Wenham, 47, was serving a two-year sentence at HMP Rochester when he was “released in error” on June 3 this year.
Wenham was also waiting to face trial for an offence of aggravated burglary.
He had been convicted of burglary with intent to steal in his absence in Cambridge on October 3 of this year.
He has links to Havant, Worthing, Brighton, Peterborough and the surrounding area, Sussex Police added.
In an appeal to find Wenham, Sussex Police said: “We’re searching for William Wenham, who is wanted for being unlawfully at large.
“Anyone who sees him is asked to dial 999, quoting Op Equal.”
The news comes as Justice Minister David Lammy comes under heightened criticism for a string of accidental prison releases.
An appeal has been launched to find William Wenham who is on the run after mistakenly being released from prison
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SUSSEX POLICE
Concern began as Ethiopian migrant Hadush Kebatu, who sexually assaulted a woman and a 14-year-old girl days into his stay at the Home Office-run Bell Hotel in Epping, was accidentally released just one month into his 12-month sentence.
A two-day manhunt was sparked, resulting in Kebatu being re-arrested and deported.
Earlier in the week, it was revealed that a separate criminal who had been wrongfully released from prison on November 3 was charged with stalking a woman and taken back into custody on the same day.
Just two days after the incident, Mr Lammy claimed the prison system has “the toughest checks we’ve ever had”.
Hadush Kebatu sexually assaulted two women, including a 14-year-old girl, before being accidentally freed from HMP Chelmsford
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ESSEX POLICERobert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, questioned the Deputy Prime Minister: “Calamity Lammy didn’t know his department had lost a prisoner for over a week. He’s asleep at the wheel.
“Since Lammy introduced his ‘strongest ever checks’, three prisoners have been mistakenly released.
“They’re failing, and the British people are being put at risk on a nearly daily basis as a result.
“There’s never been a better time to be a criminal. How can the Prime Minister have any confidence in Lammy to keep the public safe?”
Justice minister David Lammy is facing increased scrutiny as the number of wrongful releases from prisons continue to grow
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PA
The Ministry of Justice revealed on Tuesday that 91 prisoners were mistakenly released between April and the end of October. This marks an average of three per week.
The number is rapidly rising, too. Between 2013 and 2023, the number of wrongful releases ranged between 44 and 81. In the year up to March 2024, this number jumped to 115, and last year it was 262.
Some 353 prisoners have been released in error between April 1, 2024, and October 31 this year, which includes more than 90 convicted sex or violent offenders.
The Ministry of Justice has linked the rise in errors to the HM Prison and Probation Service having to “digest and implement a range of operational and legislative changes”.
The early release scheme, which was implemented due to prison overcrowding, is said to have played a role.
