Sex offender freed from Wandsworth prison by mistake is back in custody | Prisons and probation

A convicted sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison a week ago was taken into custody again.

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, from Algeria, was accidentally released from Wandsworth prison in south London on 29 October. Metropolitan police said he was arrested in Finsbury Park on Friday.

The Met also launched a manhunt for Kaddour-Cherif, who has a criminal record for theft. Police expressed disappointment at being “six days ahead” as the error was only reported to the Met a week later, on 4 November.

incorrect The release, and the release of another prisoner who was mistakenly released, led to increased political pressure on UK Justice Secretary David Lammy, days after he introduced tough controls for prisons.

Lammy had refused several times to say whether any other prisoners had been released by mistake during Wednesday’s harrowing session of prime minister’s questions (PMQs), which was ambushed by a series of pre-planned questions.

Apparently the moment Kaddur-Sharif was taken into custody Caught by Sky News camera crew At 11.30am in Finsbury Park, north London, a man initially claimed to be someone else.

Police officers then approached him and put him in the back of a police van after telling him he had been arrested “on suspicion of being wanted after wrongful release from prison”.

When he initially denied being Kaddour-Cherif, the arresting police officer told him that he “looked exactly like him” and that he had a “very distinctive crooked nose.”

Police brought him to the back of the van and held Kaddour-Cherif’s picture next to his face, then uncuffed him and clasped his hands behind his back. Officers searched the backpack and found a laptop, umbrella and wallet.

Before being put into the back of the van, Kaddour-Cherif turned to those gathered and said: “Look at justice in the UK, they release people by mistake, after which they say ‘ah ah ah’… it’s not my fault.”

Kaddour-Cherif was identified as an overstayer five years ago but was not removed from the UK. He was serving a sentence for trespassing with intent to steal when he was mistakenly released from prison.

He was convicted of indecent exposure in November 2024 and given an 18-month community order and placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

It is understood Kaddour-Cherif was in the early stages of the deportation process as he had not applied for asylum and his visa had expired when he was released.

He entered the UK on a visitor visa in 2019 but was automatically flagged for overstay on 6 February 2020.

Kaddour-Cherif uses other variations of his name, including Ibrahim, and has links to Westminster and Tower Hamlets, according to the Met.

In a statement, Lammy said: “I can confirm that Brahim Kaddour-Cherif has been recaptured and taken back into custody. I would like to thank the police and HMPPS staff who worked around the clock.”

“We have inherited a prison system in crisis and I am appalled by the erroneous release rates this has caused. “I am committed to solving this problem, but there is a mountain to climb that cannot be solved overnight.

The other inmate, a wrongfully released con artist, surrendered on Thursday. While Lammy insisted the government would take action against typos, William Smith was filmed waving to cameras and hugging his partner before walking back to HMP Wandsworth in south-west London.

Smith, 35, commonly known as Billy, was sentenced to 45 months in prison at Croydon crown court on Monday for multiple counts of fraud, but was later released by the prison in error.

A clerical error by the court led to the prison being told it was a suspended sentence, meaning he no longer needed to remain in custody. The court corrected the error but HMP Wandsworth was not notified.