Prison inmate wrongly released early has beers and bacon butty at local pub before handing himself back in

HMP Birmingham, from where Harwood was released (credit: REX)

A prison inmate who was wrongly released from jail early walked to an old school pal’s pub for a couple of cheeky beers before handing himself back in.

Bungling guards erroneously let Lewis Harwood out of HMP Birmingham last Monday morning.

So he decided to make the most of his new-found freedom by paying the Soho Foundry Tavern in Smethwick, West Midlands, a flying visit.

He wolfed down a bacon sandwich and enjoyed two bottles of Budweiser before calmly walking back to the prison.

Pub landlady Karen Clifford, whose son Darren went to school with Harwood, said he walked in just after opening.

“He’s a nice lad, I’ve known him since he was a child,” she added.

Harwood, of Rugeley, Staffordshire, was supposed to be let out after serving a sentence for a motoring offence.

However, he was then supposed to be kept in jail on remand for an unrelated charge.

The prison carried out its pre-release checks, but it’s understood a fax from Birmingham Magistrates’ Court with instructions to keep Harwood on remand was not sent to the jail until 5.45pm on the Friday.

A G4S spokesman said: “In accordance with proper procedures we performed a 14-day and a two-day check on this prisoner’s release date and both of these cleared him for release first thing on Monday [June 29] morning.

"The only notification we received of a change to his status was a fax sent by the court late on Friday [June 26] evening.

"The prisoner is now back in custody and we have proposed to our partners in the court system that the way important decisions about offenders are communicated to the prison is looked at.”