Justice Secretary David Lammy admitted there was a “mountain to climb” to tackle the crisis in the prison system following the arrest of wrongly-released Brahim Kaddour-Cherif.
Algerian national Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was arrested more than a week after the blunder which saw him released from HMP Wandsworth in London.
The Metropolitan Police said he was detained after he was spotted by a member of the public in Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park, north London, just before 11.30am on Friday.
“Officers responded immediately and he was arrested,” the force said.
UPDATE: Officers have arrested Brahim Kaddour Cherif who was released in error from HMP Wandsworth on 29 October.
Cherif was spotted by a member of the public in Blackstock Road, Islington just before 11.30am. Officers responded immediately and he was arrested.
Kaddour-Cherif was accidentally freed on October 29 but police were only informed of the mistake on Tuesday, prompting a high-profile manhunt.
He was serving a sentence for trespass with intent to steal, but had previously been convicted for indecent exposure.
Mr Lammy said: “We inherited a prison system in crisis and I’m appalled at the rate of releases in error this is causing.
“I’m determined to grip this problem, but there is a mountain to climb which cannot be done overnight.
“That is why I have ordered new tough release checks, commissioned an independent investigation into systemic failures and begun overhauling archaic paper-based systems still used in some prisons.”
The Met said the search for Kaddour-Cherif had required “significant resources”.
He was arrested at 11.30am for being unlawfully at large and on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker in relation to a previous incident, and was taken into police custody.
Kaddour-Cherif said it was not his fault as he was arrested by Metropolitan Police officers in north London following his mistaken release from prison.
Footage of the 24-year-old’s arrest, captured by Sky News, showed him initially standing by the passenger window of a police van before officers arrested him, as a small group of people gathered on the pavement to watch – with some filming the scene on their phones.
Wearing a grey hoodie, black beanie and black backpack, he denied that he was “Brahim” and, when asked if he knew him, said: “Everyone knows him, he’s in (the) news.”
Police began to handcuff his hands in front of him, telling him: “You’re going to be placed under arrest on suspicion of being wanted … because you look identical to the person released from custody.
“We’re arresting you to prevent your disappearance from location and to prevent any further harm to individuals by your release.”
Police brought him to the back of the van and held up an image of Kaddour-Cherif next to his face before un-cuffing and re-cuffing his hands behind his back. Officers searched his backpack and found a laptop, umbrella and wallet.
Before he was put in the back of the van, he turned to those gathered and said: “Look at the justice of the UK, they release people by mistake, after this they ‘ah ah ah’, it’s not my f****** fault.”