Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, is understood to be the man wrongly freed from the prison last Wednesday (October 29).
The Metropolitan Police was only informed about the blunder a week later, on Tuesday (November 4).
According to court documents seen by this paper, Kaddour-Cherif, who previously lived in Tower Hamlets, was in court after an incident at Lloyd Park in Walthamstow on March 30, 2024.
Documents state that he had intentionally exposed his genitals, intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm or distress.
He pleaded guilty to this on July 12, 2024, and was taken to Inner London Crown Court for sentencing.
It is also understood that the Algerian man had a “history of criminality”, including charges of trespassing with intent to steal.
His mistaken release follows the national scandal of convicted asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu who was accidentally released from HMP Chelmsford just five days before (October 24).
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There was a three-day manhunt to find Kebatu, who was found guilty of two sexual assaults, harassing a 14-year-old girl and inciting her to engage in sexual activity in July in Epping.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour MP for Tooting, has questioned how the incident with Kaddour-Cherif occurred.
Her questions follow a report by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) in 2024 which said prison staff “displayed an inability to account for prisoners during the working day”.
This is despite an investment of almost £900,000 since Khalife’s alleged escape in September 2023.
The report, published on last year, noted that HMP Wandsworth had come to be “symbolic of the problems that characterise what is worst about the English prison system”.
According to the report, the prison was over capacity, in appalling conditions and record keeping “was so poor”.
In a public statement, Mr Lammy said: “The Metropolitan Police is leading an urgent manhunt, and my officials have been working through the night to take him back to prison.
“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.
“This latest incident exposes deeper flaws across the failing criminal justice system we inherited.
”Dame Lynne Owens’ investigation will leave no stone unturned to identify these issues, so we can fix them, improve safeguards and ensure the public is properly protected.”
