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A prisoner enjoyed a few pints of lager in a Black Country boozer after he was released from HMP Birmingham by MISTAKE.

Lewis Harwood realised that officers at G4S-run jail should not have let him out.

But instead of alerting them to their mistake the 31 year-old walked to the Soho Foundry Tavern in Smethwick which is run by his ex-schoolmate’s mum and had a drink.

Meanwhile, after G4S realised the error and launched a manhunt for the prisoner.

Hours later, Harwood was back at the gates of the Winson Green prison asking to be let in.

Darren Clifford, 31 — son of the landlady — told a national newspaper how his pal’s taste of freedom also included a cheese sarnie.

He said: “He was hardly like some desperado on the run. When he explained what had happened he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“He said he intended handing himself back in but not before he’d sunk some pints.”

Harwood, from Rubery, was let out as a sentence he was serving for motoring offences ended — but he was meant to have been kept on remand to face an unrelated charge.

Director for HMP Birmingham, Pete Small, said: “The court’s decision to keep this prisoner on remand was communicated to the prison by fax out of office hours late on the evening of Friday 26 June.

"By the time the fax was uncovered, the prisoner had been released on the following Monday morning.

“We immediately alerted the police and Ministry of Justice to the release in error and he was returned to custody soon after.

“We are working with partners in the court system to look at the way important decisions about offenders are communicated to the prison.”