Police searching for Palestine Action prisoner who absconded after being freed from prison for brother’s wedding
A Palestine Action protester failed to return to Wandsworth prison after being temporarily released to attend his brother’s wedding.
Sean Middlebrough was being held at HMP Wandsworth when he was granted bail by a judge to attend the wedding.
Police are searching for Middlebrough when he doesn’t return from the wedding. Independent he understands.
Middlebrough was accused of an alleged plot to disrupt the London Stock Exchange by activists from Palestine Action chaining themselves to the building.
A government spokesman said: “Bail decisions in court are made by judges independent of the government. Fleeing is a serious offense and any defendant who commits this offense could remain behind bars for a longer period of time.”
“Police are working urgently to catch this person and we would urge anyone with information to contact police.”
This comes as the government comes under increasing pressure due to the unjust release of many prisoners. At least four people remain at large; Two of them were released in 2024, and the other two were released in June this year.
On Friday, a wrongly released sex offender was arrested after a nine-day manhunt. Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was captured after he was spotted by a member of the public in Islington, north London.
The Algerian national was serving his sentence at HMP Wandsworth in south-west London before he was wrongfully released on October 29. He was convicted of theft and had a previous conviction for indecent exposure.
Kaddour-Cherif’s release has put pressure on justice minister David Lammy, who has faced criticism for how he handled the prisoner’s mistaken release.
He was criticized on Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions for failing to address the mistake, despite being briefed on it and being repeatedly asked about the accidental releases from prison.
On Sunday, culture minister Lisa Nandy acknowledged that erroneous broadcasts had increased under the current Labor government, but claimed the government had “caught up” with the crisis.
Speaking to the BBC with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, she said: “I haven’t had any discussions with the justice minister this morning about this. What I can tell you is that there were an average of 17 false publications over a fairly long period during the last government.”
“Under this rising government. This is the 22nd. This is absolutely unacceptable. It was unacceptable before, it is unacceptable now.”
He added: “Even one is too many, and the justice secretary is getting that under control by appointing Dame Lynne Owens, the former director of the National Crime Agency, to make sure we really get this under control, starting with the antiquated paper-based system developed in the 1980s and still in use, building new prisons and making sure we have additional checks so people aren’t released by mistake.”
