David Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, was questioned about the accidental release of sex offender Hadush Kebatu

David Lammy was involved in an angry clash with Tory opponents during a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions debate this afternoon. The Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister admitted he can’t promise more asylum-seeker offenders won’t be accidentally let out of prison. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “I suspect there will be more checks and balances we need to do.” It follows the accidental release of sex offender Hadush Kebatu, who was allowed to go free from HMP Chelmsford due to “human error”.

Mr Lammy, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, was answering questions in Parliament on behalf of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who is attending the COP environment summit in Brazil. The session turned into a bad-tempered row as he was questioned by Conservative Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge – with Mr Lammy exclaiming at one point “get a grip!”

David Lammy exploded at PMQs (Image: PA)

Kebatu, an Ethiopian national who had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, was initially imprisoned for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman. He was set free by mistake before being captured again, and the Home Office eventually paid him £500 to agree to take a flight back to Ethiopia.

Questioning Mr Lammy, who is in charge of the nation’s prisons, Mr Cartlidge asked if he could pledge “no other asyum seeking offender has been accidentally let out of prison”.

And he said: “I confess I am surprised the Deputy Prime Minister hasn’t already apologised.”

Mr Lammy retorted that he had apologised in Parliament previously, and repeated the apology again. But he refused to say that he was confident no similar offenders had been released by accident.

Instead, Mr Lammy told the PMQs session: “After his release I put in place the toughest checks we’ve ever had in the prison system.”

He said it was important an inquiry into the incident chaired by former Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Dame Lynn Owens got to the bottom of what went wrong.

And he said: “I suspect there will be more checks and balances we need to do.”

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