Police have launched a manhunt after another prisoner is released by mistake.

William Wenham was serving a two-year sentence and waiting to face trial for an offence of aggravated burglary when he was released in error from HMP Rochester on Tuesday June 3 this year.

Wenham was convicted of burglary with intent to steal in his absence in Cambridge Crown Court on Friday October 3 2025. 

Sussex Police say the 47-year-old has connections to Havant, Worthing, Brighton, Peterborough, and the surrounding area.   

This is just the most recent incident of a criminal being wrongly released from prison early.

Last month, Epping migrant sex attacker Hadush Kebatu was released by mistake from Chelmsford. 

Kebatu was then arrested in Finsbury Park following a two-day manhunt.

Last week, it was revealed that two prisoners who were released by mistake in 2024 are still at large. 

William Wenham was serving a two-year sentence and waiting to face trial for an offence of aggravated burglary when he was released in error from HMP Rochester on Tuesday June 3 this year

William Wenham was serving a two-year sentence and waiting to face trial for an offence of aggravated burglary when he was released in error from HMP Rochester on Tuesday June 3 this year

A further two inmates are also on the run after being released in error in June this year, bringing the total to four.

A fifth prisoner, Nigerian national Ola Abimbola, also remains at large after allegedly walking out of the open prison HMP Ford on October 10.

Meanwhile, Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was finally re-arrested last Friday after mistakenly being released from HMP Wandsworth nine days ago, sparking a huge police manhunt.

The 24-year-old, who had been serving a sentence for trespass with intent to steal and had a previous conviction for indecent exposure, was snared by cops after a tip-off from a member of the public.

He was detained by officers in Finsbury Park, the same area where sex attack migrant Hadush Kebatu was arrested two weeks earlier, following yet another error that saw him released by mistake. 

In another embarrassing gaffe, an unnamed  34-year-old offender who was let out of jail by mistake on Monday November 3 and later arrested for stalking a woman.

The Deputy PM and Justice Secretary David Lammy on Tuesday revealed officials were still trying to establish whether the offender was on the loose after being freed on November 3.

It was confirmed on Wednesday that he had been wrongly freed, but had been detained overnight by Leicestershire Police, eight days after being mistakenly let out.

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Tory frontbencher Robert Jenrick, who has dubbed the missing prisoners ‘Lammy’s lags’, said it was a ‘disgrace’ that the gaffe had led to a new crime being committed.

The Shadow Justice Secretary said: ‘A prisoner who escaped Lammy’s ‘strongest ever checks’ has been charged with stalking hours later.

‘A disgrace. People are being put at risk by this crisis.

‘How many screw-ups have there been that David Lammy isn’t telling us about?’

He added: ‘This is shocking but it’s not surprising.

‘David Lammy must now come clean about how many other prisoners have been charged for alleged crimes while they’ve been on the run.’

The Daily Mail revealed last week that an astonishing five inmates a week were   mistakenly freed every week last year.

Official data shows there were a record 262 releases in error in 2024-25, of which 87 were violent offenders and three had convictions for sexual offences. 

Last month, Epping migrant sex attacker Hadush Kebatu was released by mistake from Chelmsford

Last month, Epping migrant sex attacker Hadush Kebatu was released by mistake from Chelmsford

Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was finally re-arrested last Friday after being accidentally freed from HMP Wandsworth nine days before

Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was finally re-arrested last Friday after being accidentally freed from HMP Wandsworth nine days before

Nigerian national Ola Abimbola (pictured), also remains at large after allegedly walking out of the open prison HMP Ford on October 10

Nigerian national Ola Abimbola (pictured), also remains at large after allegedly walking out of the open prison HMP Ford on October 10

Vanessa Frake-Harris MBE told the Daily Mail that Labour’s early release scheme had made sentence calculations a ‘minefield’ and ‘doubled the workload’ for staff.

She said the early release scheme introduced by Labour in September 2024 – which followed a previous programme brought in by the Tories – had increased the risk of errors.  

Sentence calculations are a minefield, and this scheme doubled the workload and made sentence calculations much more difficult,’ she said.

‘Bear in mind the computer system introduced was not fit for purpose and now the calculations are having to be done manually – meaning someone with a pen, paper and a calculator.

‘That said, these accidental releases are just a small part in a huge number of disasters affecting our prisons ranging from staff shortages and inexperienced staff to overcrowding, drugs, corruption, increasing violence and poor access to work.

‘Knee-jerk reactions from ministers, like introducing five-page release documents which some governors say takes almost a day to do, has just made staff even more stretched and under pressure.’

This is a breaking news story, more to follow. Â