David Lammy must quit as Justice Secretary if he cannot answer “basic questions” on the prisoner release scandal, Robert Jenrick has declared.

The Deputy Prime Minister will face MPs for the first time tomorrow since his bungled performance at Prime Minister’s Questions last Wednesday led to a fresh confidence crisis in the justice system.

And Shadow Justice Secretary Mr Jenrick, in a rare move, sent Mr Lammy his questions ahead of the Parliamentary showdown in a bid to force straight answers.

He wrote to Mr Lammy: “Tomorrow, in Parliament, I will once again ask basic questions that any competent Lord Chancellor would know the answers for:

– How many prisoners have been accidentally released since April 1 2025

– How many prisoners accidentally released are still at large?

– Who has been accidentally released and how many are violent or sexual offenders?

“This is a matter of the utmost seriousness. If you refuse again, or provide this information despite my multiple requests, and my forewarning, the only remaining conclusion is that you are incapable of telling the truth.

“In which case, you must make way for someone who will”.

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a serial offender accused of thefts, assaults and indecent exposure, was freed from HMP Wandsworth because a court warrant for him to be remanded in custody was sent to the wrong prison, HMP Pentonville.

But details of Kaddour-Cherif’s release only emerged after Mr Lammy repeatedly dodged questions about whether an “asylum seeker” had been let out.

The Algerian sex offender had been living in the UK illegally after overstaying his visa – but the Justice Secretary seemingly used the specific detail about whether he was an asylum seeker to avoid answering questions in the House of Commons.

It came after Epping sex attack migrant Hadush Kebatu was let out of HMP Chelmsford instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre to be deported.

Fraudster William Smith was also mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth.

And three convicts are currently on the run after bungled releases, it is understood.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “These cases reflect the nature and scale of the prison crisis inherited by this Government.

“We have been clear that there is no overnight fix.

“That’s why we’re building 14,000 more prison places and sending in tech experts to modernise the system and provide immediate support to staff.”

And the scale of the justice crisis was laid bare after the Government admitted that a prisoner feared missing had not wrongly been let out after all.

Three prisoners are now understood to be at large after being released in error, and the Prime Minister’s spokesman urged the public to help the police with their inquiries about them.

He told reporters: “The three remaining are subject to live police investigations.

“Obviously I’m limited in what I can say, but clearly we would urge anyone with any information to come forward to the police.”

Algerian national Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was arrested on Friday after a police search following his release from the south-west London prison on October 29, which Scotland Yard said officers were only informed of on Tuesday.

Kaddour-Cherif was serving a sentence for trespass with intent to steal, but had previously been convicted for indecent exposure.

He is understood to have overstayed his visitor’s visa to the UK after arriving in 2019, and was in the process of being deported.

Another prisoner, Billy Smith, 35, who was also accidentally freed from Wandsworth on Monday – after having been sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences – handed himself back in on Thursday.

Justice Secretary David Lammy admitted on Friday there is a “mountain to climb” to tackle the crisis in the prisons system.

Stronger security checks were announced for prisons and an independent investigation was launched into releases in error after the now-deported Ethiopian national was accidentally freed from HMP Chelmsford on October 24.

Some 262 inmates were mistakenly let out in the year to March 2025 – a 128% increase on the 115 in the previous 12 months, according to the latest Government figures.

Of the total, 90 releases in error were of violent or sex offenders.