Prison lets wrong Sven out two years early

A German robber was let out of jail two years early after authorities muddled him up with another prisoner with the same name.

The 27-year-old apparently packed his stuff as fast as he could when a prison officer at Spremberg Jail near Cottbus said he could go.

The error was only noticed when the wife of the man who should have been let out called the prison to ask where he was. His namesake is being hunted by police.

The inmate, named only as Sven A, had laughed at the guards at the gate as he left and said, "Goodbye forever".

Regional justice minister Kurt Schelter told German newspaper Bild: "It is an inexplicable mistake. I have ordered a full and thorough investigation into how it could have happened."