Chelmsford’s Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman called for a rapid public inquiry into how the mistaken release, first reported by The Sun, happened.
“This is utterly unacceptable and has potentially put my constituents in danger,” she said. “I expect answers from the Prison Service.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the “entire system is collapsing under Labour”.
“Conservatives voted against Labour’s prisoner release program because it was putting predators back on our streets,” she said on X.
“But this man has only just been convicted. A level of incompetence that beggars belief.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “He is now walking the streets of Essex. Britain is broken.”
A report from His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service said 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the previous 12 months.
