A prison administration error has forced Josh Brown to spend Christmas day in Risdon Prison, instead of being surrounded by his family and friends. 

The Rocherlea man was incorrectly released from the prison 28 days early. 

He spent the past 26 days discretely going about his life, hoping to reach December 3 – his actual release date – without being forcibly returned to prison. 

The 31-year-old’s mother, Wendy Walker, said her son was arrested at his friend’s house on Saturday night. 

Police had visited Ms Walker’s Rocherlea house multiple times looking for Brown.

“They came here Saturday morning at 6am and then Saturday night Josh rang me to see if I would take some clothes to him, but when I got there the bloke said he’d just been picked up,” Ms Walker said. 

“They just barged through the shed and picked him up.”

A government spokesperson confirmed Brown was back in custody, but said further comment could not be provided for security reasons. 

Ms Walker phoned the police on Sunday to find out where her son was being held, but she was told “it was none of my business”. 

“I don’t even know if he is in Hobart or here,” she said. 

Ms Walker had a lot of questions about what processes her son is facing, but she is unlikely to have her questions answered until she can speak to him. 

“Now I have to go and try to work out where I put money in the bank for him again, so I don’t even know if he is in Launceston because when you put the money in you have to state what prison he is in,” she said. 

Brown is the eighth-known prisoner to be incorrectly released from Risdon since 2015. 

A KPMG report released in 2017 recommended the Justice Department streamline court processes and implement a single registry for all courts.

The government is working to establish an ICT program that will allow the courts and prisons to share information in real time.