A prisoner was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth earlier this week because of a surname-mix-up.

William Smith, also known as Billy, was sentenced to four years in jail after being convicted of multiple fraud offences on Monday.

But the 35-year-old was freed from HMP Wandsworth in the affluent south London suburb that same day and remains on the run.

The wrong sentence was put into the system as he shares the same surname as his co-defendant, according to The Mirror. While William attended court via video uplink, Joseph Smith was on bail and attended court in person, receiving a suspended sentence.

Prison officials tried to correct the error on Monday, only to notify the wrong person about it, with both William and Joseph released.

Surrey Police revealed Smith was on the run on t

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