Lammy says he was right not to discuss mistakenly freed prisoner at PMQs

Justice secretary says he did not have all the detail' at the time and there is mountain to climb' on prisons crisis

David Lammy has said the government has a mountain to climb" to tackle the prisons crisis and insisted he was not equipped with all the detail" when questioned in parliament the previous day about a mistaken prisoner release.

After a fraudster mistakenly freed from prison handed himself in on Thursday, the justice secretary said he had been right not to provide details to MPs at prime minister's questions on Wednesday about the release of a sex offender who remains at large.