Court bungle lets prisoner go

Photo / File

A Victorian prisoner mistakenly released from jail was free for six months before he was arrested and returned to custody.

Police arrested Lindsay Whitfield, 37, yesterday following his release from prison 18 months early last December.

Whitfield, of Tyabb, was jailed for 18 months in November but was released on December 9 after completing a previous jail term he was serving.

The error was blamed on an "oversight" in which Whitfield's 18-month jail term was never recorded at Corrections Victoria, court documents show.

His arrest comes a week after another prisoner was captured following premature release from custody.

- AAP