Surrey Police have launched a manhunt for William “Billy” Smith, 35, after he was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth on Monday.

He is described as white, bald, and clean shaven. He was last seen wearing a navy long sleeve Nike jumper, navy blue Nike tracksuit bottoms, and black trainers.

The force said Smith has links to Woking but could be anywhere in Surrey.

He was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences at Croydon Crown Court on Monday, appearing via video link from HMP Wandsworth.

Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was “absolutely outraged and appalled by the mistaken release of a foreign criminal wanted by the police”.

He said his “officials have been working through the night to take him back to prison”.

Mr Lammy added: “Victims deserve better and the public deserve answers.

“That is why I have already brought in the strongest checks ever to clamp down on such failures and ordered an independent investigation, led by Dame Lynne Owens to uncover what went wrong and address the rise in accidental releases which has persisted for too long.”

The prisoner mistakenly released from the London prison most recently appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in September, on a charge of failing to comply with sex offender requirements, the Mirror reports.

The Algerian man who was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth in south-west London last week is Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, sources said.

The prisoner who was mistakenly released is not an asylum seeker, it is understood.

It is understood that David Lammy found out about the mistaken release of the prisoner overnight, but thought it inappropriate to bring it up during PMQs while details were still emerging.

He repeatedly refused to speak on whether another prisoner had been accidentally released this afternoon when challenged by James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary.

Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said: “Just when you couldn’t think things could get any worse for the Ministry of Justice, somehow they have. It would be laughable if the situation weren’t so dangerous.

“This is yet another grave mistake from the government. The public deserves a full explanation about how this has happened again. That should start with David Lammy coming back before Parliament this afternoon for why he failed to answer this pressing question in PMQs as well as a full explanation of how it took almost a week for this to come to light.

“It’s utterly unacceptable that public safety has been put at risk yet again. Both the government and the Prison Service must own up to their failures and guarantee that these mistakes will stop happening once and for all.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “We have been very open about the chaos that this Government has inherited. The fact that jails were full to the point of capacity. Urgent action has been needed to do exactly that, to restore faith in the justice system.

“We’ve been very clear as well there is no overnight fix. We completely accept that this type of case is utterly unacceptable and needs to be dealt with, and the system needs to be reformed and the appropriate checks need to be in place to stop this type of thing from ever happening.

“The public will rightly view any mistaken release of a prisoner from custody onto the streets as unacceptable. It’s important the police are given the time and space to bring him back into custody. And we will look into the circumstances behind this as a matter of urgency.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has slammed the incident. She wrote in a post on X: “James Cartlidge asked the Deputy PM FIVE times to tell us if ANOTHER migrant sex offender had been accidentally released from prison.

“Instead of answering, Lammy lost his temper. Now we read it HAS happened again & he’s been on the run for a week.

“This is a shambles of a government.”

Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was “absolutely outraged and appalled by the mistaken release of a foreign criminal wanted by the police”, adding his “officials have been working through the night to take him back to prison”.

The Conservative Party found out about the mistaken release of the prisoner shortly before PMQs. Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy refused to answer questions about whether any other asylum seekers had been released after the high-profile case involving Hadush Kebatu.

A spokesman for Kemi Badenoch said that James Cartlidge, who stood in for the Conservative leader, gave Lammy “the opportunity to front up” but he ducked it.

The spokesperson said: “In fact, he got quite angry, claimed he’d put in the toughest checks ever – which clearly cannot be the case because another one’s got out accidentally.”

Nigel Farage has weighed in on the incident, writing on X: “Another dangerous criminal is on the loose thanks to Labour. What a total farce.”

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, the Labour MP for Tooting, told The Mirror: “I’m horrified to learn that someone was mistakenly released from Wandsworth Prison with such a shocking list of offences. Local residents will quite rightly be deeply concerned. We urgently need answers from the Government and Ministry of Justice as to how this was allowed to happen.”

David Lammy, stepping in for Prime Minister Kier Starmer, clashed with his Tory opposite at PMQs today in an argument over the accidental release of a prisoner from jail. Before news of the latest accidental release, the Shadow Defence Secretary said: “The public are extremely concerned about what happened in the Kebatu case, they want to know there won’t be a repeat.

“So I’m putting to him a very clear question about his responsibilities. I repeat, can he reassure the House that since Kebatu was released, no other asylum seeking offender has been accidentally let out of prison.”

Prior to this, Lammy told the house: “I spent 14 years in opposition and I did a hell of a lot better than he’s just done.

“I have answered the question. Under their watch, prisons were in a mess. Suicides went up. Prison officer cut – 20,000 neighbourhood police lost.

“We’ve deported more in the last year than they deported in the last five years. I’m not going to take any lecture from the honourable gentleman.

The incident follows another high-profile accidental prison release in London. Migrant Hadush Kebatu was wrongly freed instead of being transferred to an immigration removal centre.

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed officers are searching for a prisoner freed by mistake last Wednesday.

A Met spokesperson said: “Shortly after 1300hrs on Tuesday November 4, the Met was informed by the Prison Service that a prisoner had been released in error from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday October 29.

“The prisoner is a 24-year-old Algerian man.

“Officers are carrying out urgent inquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody.”

Welcome to our live blog. We’ll bring you the latest on the ongoing manhunt for the prisoner mistakenly released from a London jail.