Police have launched an urgent manhunt for a prisoner who fled from jail on Christmas Day.
Mahad Elmi, 27, left an open prison in Buckinghamshire and is now unlawfully at large, Thames Valley Police said.
The force said he absconded from HMP Springhill, near the village of Grendon Underwood, overnight on Thursday into Boxing Day.
Thames Valley Police described Elmi as a ‘black man, around 5ft 8ins tall, of medium build’ with ‘medium-length black hair, a beard and brown eyes’.
The force said he has links to south-west London. It is currently unclear why he was behind bars.
The blunder is the latest controversy to hit Justice Secretary David Lammy who is facing pressure over a surge in mistaken inmate releases.
In October, Algerian prisoner Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was accidentally freed from scandal-hit HMP Wandsworth in London.
And Sir Keir Starmer‘s government is still recovering from the fallout surrounding the mistaken release of migrant sex attacker Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford just days earlier.
Mahad Elmi, 27, left the open jail in Buckinghamshire and is now unlawfully at large, Thames Valley Police said
Police said Elmi absconded from HMP Springhill, near the village of Grendon Underwood, overnight from on Thursday into Boxing Day
The public have been told not to approach Elmi and instead call 999.
Detective Sergeant Matthew French, of Buckinghamshire’s Priority Crime Team, said: ‘We are appealing for the help of the public to trace Mahad Elmi, who is unlawfully at large after leaving and not returning to HMP Springhill.
‘If you see Elmi, do not approach him and call 999 instead.
‘If you have any information as to where Elmi may be, please call 101 or make a report online, quoting reference number 43250653119.’
HMP Springhill, which houses more than 300 inmates, is classed as a Category D prison.
According to the Prison Service, this means it has ‘minimal security and allow(s) eligible prisoners to spend most of their day away from the prison on licence to carry out work, education or for other resettlement purposes’.
Fury over mistaken prisoner releases came to a head in October when sex offender Kebatu was freed in error from HMP Chelmsford instead of being deported.
The Ethiopian migrant, who was convicted of attacking a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, Essex, was arrested in Finsbury Park, north London, three days later.
Kebatu was paid £500 in taxpayers’ money to leave after threatening to disrupt his removal from the UK.
Mr Lammy subsequently pledged there would be ‘more direct senior accountability for ensuring that protocols and checks are correctly applied’.
There would also be a ‘clear checklist for governors to determine that every step has been followed the evening before any release takes place’, he added.
Hedush Kebatu (pictured) was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre
In October, Algerian prisoner Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was accidentally freed from scandal-hit HMP Wandsworth in London
Mr Lammy added: ‘These are the strongest release checks that have ever been in place. They will apply to every release from custody and are effective immediately.’
However, just two days later on October 29, Kaddour-Cherif became the latest prisoner to be freed in error.
Kaddour-Cherif had been serving time for a break-in at the Royal Society of Literature in Somerset House on the Strand in September 2023.
He also had a previous sexual offence conviction for exposing himself to a woman in March 2024 in Lloyd Park in Walthamstow, east London – not far from his address in Tower Hamlets.
Kaddour-Cherif had previously been charged with a string of other alleged offences, including possession of a knife, handling stolen goods and another count of burglary.
Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan, who represents Tooting, in south London, said she had been ‘raising issues’ about Wandsworth prison for years.
‘I’m horrified to learn that someone was mistakenly released from Wandsworth Prison with such a shocking list of offences,’ she said.
‘Local residents will quite rightly be deeply concerned. We urgently need answers from the Government and Ministry of Justice as to how this was allowed to happen.’
In September 2023, Daniel Khalife, who was awaiting trial for spying for Iran, escaped from HMP Wandsworth after strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery truck.
He was arrested in Northolt, west London, three days later after a huge manhunt.
Then earlier this year, HMP Wandsworth prisoner officer Linda De Sousa Abreu was jailed for 15 months after she was filmed having sex with an inmate.
An inspection last year found failures in leadership ‘at every level’, with high rates of self-harm, dangerous levels of violence and drugs, severe overcrowding and appalling conditions.
In a letter to Mr Lammy and Shabana Mahmood, Ms Allin-Khan said: ‘This event raises serious questions about the operational procedures and staffing levels within Wandsworth Prison and across the wider prison estate, which as you will know I have been raising for many years.
‘In your role as Justice Secretary, what reassurances can you give to local residents in my community that Wandsworth Prison remains fit for purpose following these major security failures?
‘Furthermore, can you explain why it took almost a week for the Metropolitan Police to be made aware of this, and how many days did it take the Ministry of Justice to find out he was released incorrectly?’
