JUSTICE SECRETARY David Lammy admitted today that there is a “mountain to climb” to fix the crisis in Britain’s prisons following the mistaken release of Brahim Kaddour-Cherif.

The 24-year-old Algerian national was arrested in Finsbury Park more than a week after being wrongly freed from HMP Wandsworth.

Mr Lammy said the government had “inherited a prison system in crisis” and promised new release checks, an independent investigation and a digital overhaul to replace “archaic paper-based systems.”

The PCS union said managers and ministers, not overworked staff, are to blame for the failures.

General secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Offender management units are staffed by some of our lowest-paid members working in prisons.

“They remain under-resourced despite the prison population’s all-time high.

“We call for an immediate review of staffing levels and procedures, urgent investment in recruitment, retention and training, and guarantees that hard-working staff will not be scapegoated for the massive problems out of their control.”

Ms Heathcote said PCS must be invited to contribute to the review, adding: “It’s time for managers and ministers to listen, and to then to ensure that their staff are no longer left to carry the burden of a broken system.”