EXCLUSIVE: One prisoner wrongly freed every week - including killers and rapists - by bungling officials who miscalculate sentences

• A staggering 369 prisoners have been released by mistake since 2005 - including 10 sex offenders - and 34 in total were still on run in July
• Officials blamed blunders on errors such as inmates having same name as others who were supposed to be freed and incorrect documents
• One Category A prison inmate on run after escaping from British jail
• Seven prisoners have been wrongly released from London's high-security Belmarsh prison since 2007 - one of these was just last year

One prisoner every week has been freed by mistake from British jails including murderers and sex offenders, alarming new figures reveal.
Officials blamed the blunders on errors such as inmates having the same name as others who were supposed to be freed, incorrect documents and prison sentences calculated wrongly.
A staggering 369 prisoners have been released by mistake since 2005, according to figures released by the Ministry of Justice following a Freedom of Information request by MailOnline.

One prisoner every week has been freed by mistake - including seven prisoners from London's high security Belmarsh prison, pictured

While most of the prisoners have now been recaptured – a worrying 34 of these were still on the run in July this year.
Ten of those released by mistake in total were convicted sex offenders – though seven of these were returned to custody.
At least 18 of these prisoners were held in Category A prisons, holding prisoners deemed to be highly dangerous to the public or national security.
Many prisoners in Category A prisons will be in there for life sentences, including for murder, rape, or acts of terrorism.

Although just because they were held in Category A prisons, does not mean they were classed as Category A prisoners, according to the Ministry of Justice.
But the department admitted earlier this week that one Category A prisoner was among eight prisoners still on the run currently after escaping from British jails.
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour's Shadow Justice Secretary, lambasted the figures as ‘shambolic.’
He told the MailOnline: ‘The safety of communities up and down the country is being placed at risk as one prisoner a week is wrongly released.
‘If it wasn't bad enough that these prisoners are being wrongly let out, what makes it worse is that so many aren’t being recaptured.’
The figures, which exclude immigrants being detained and include both convicted prisoners and those on remand, show that from 2007 to 2010, the number of prisoners released in error from jail doubled from 36 a year to 72.
In 2011 this figure dropped to 41.
Seven prisoners have escaped from London’s high-security Belmarsh prison since 2007. One of these prisoners was released wrongly just last year.
The prison reportedly currently holds terror preacher Abu Qatada and in the past serial killer Peter Tobin amongst other high profile inmates.
14 prisoners were wrongly released from jails across the country in the first three months of this year – more than one prisoner every week. 10 of these have still not been returned to jail.

One prisoner was released wrongly from Belmarsh prison last year - a high-security prison - which reportedly currently holds terror preacher Abu Qatada and in the past held serial killer Peter Tobin, right, amongst other high-profile inmates

The total figure for prisoners released by mistake covers from 2005 up until March this year and the figures of those still on the run refer to those still on the run in March.
The Ministry of Justice refused to give details of the nature of the crime committed by a Category A prisoner who was released in error in November 2008, because they said it risked identifying the individual.
Javed Khan, Chief Executive of Victim Support, said: ‘Victims and witnesses of crime expect justice to be done and for sentencing to prevent reoffending.
‘Clearly, this cannot happen if prisoners are released early by mistake.
‘These errors undermine public confidence in the justice system, and represent a failed opportunity to turn more offenders into law-abiding citizens.’
In 2009 Jason Bethell was released from Chelmsford jail by mistake after being remanded in custody on a charge of murdering John Smith, 58, in Essex.
He later handed himself in to police before appearing at Chelmsford Crown Court where he was found not-guilty and cleared of the charge.

Former murder suspect Jason Bethell, left, was released by mistake before he handed himself into the police and was cleared of the charge and right, Anthony Joseph, who killed Richard Whelan, hours after being released in error

Terence Clegg was released from prison in Durham in October 2008 instead of his father, who shared the name and was held at the same jail.
Raheem Ahmed was wrongly freed in Birmingham in August 2007 after serving a week of a six-month sentence for violent affray. The late delivery of a photograph was blamed.
Anthony Joseph stabbed to death Richard Whelan on a bus in Islington, North London, hours after being released in error from HMP Forest Bank in July 2005.
Child abduction charges against him had been dropped as officials were unaware of an outstanding warrant for his arrest for burglary.
The prison that released him, in Manchester, was unaware there was an arrest warrant out for him.
And the police holding the arrest warrant, just a few miles away in Liverpool, did not know he was in custody because computer records had not been updated.
Bobby Phipps had been released from Manchester’s Strangeways jail in November 2004 after only four days on remand when facing six charges of attempted murder.
He was released after a prison officer failed to update paperwork correctly.
The 22-year-old was rearrested and given a life sentence.
The Ministry of Justice said not all of the prisoners released in error were required to be returned to custody.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘We take public protection extremely seriously and this type of error is a rare but regrettable occurrence.
‘The Prison Service has developed robust procedures to deal with such situations and the majority of those who are released in error are returned to custody very quickly.’