Wrongly released inmate accused of groping prison worker hours after being freed

A prisoner freed in error under Labour's early release scheme has been accused of groping a jail worker's thigh within hours of being let out.

Amari Ward, 31, was one of 37 prisoners who should not have been eligible for the early release scheme because they had breached restraining orders.

When police investigated Ward's case, it emerged he and the others had been convicted under an outdated law, which was not recognised during checks.

Red-faced officials at the Ministry of Justice have admitted that five of those mistakenly released have still not been located but insisted police were working “urgently” to find them.

Ward allegedly assaulted the prison worker while he was being given a lift to a railway station. He was among a small group of inmates given a lift from HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, to Sittingbourne station 11 miles away as a “gesture of goodwill”.

But during the journey it is alleged he “sexually assaulted the prison worker," according to a log of the incident. After the vehicle stopped in the station car park, he quickly left and caught a train to London. He was arrested the following day in Croydon.

His release came after serving 40% of a jail term for breaching a restraining order. The Government had said those convicted of offences linked to domestic abuse, including breaching a restraining order, would not be eligible for early release.

However, 37 men's crimes had incorrectly been prosecuted under outdated legislation from 1997. That meant the system did not recognise they were ineligible for release.

Nick Hardwick, the former chief inspector of prisons, branded the incident “very distressing and frightening for the victims”.