A convicted sex offender, whose mistaken release from a London prison triggered a nationwide manhunt and political outcry, has pleaded guilty to further crimes.
Guilty pleas for burglary and knife possession
Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday, where he admitted to a burglary committed on 6 January 2024. The court heard he broke into a garage on Orford Road in Walthamstow, east London, with the intent to steal bicycles.
Separately, via a video link from HMP Pentonville, Kaddour-Cherif pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court to carrying a knife in Burntwood Road, Earlsfield, southwest London, on 13 November 2023.
Judge Simon Heptonstall has remanded him in custody and will pass sentence for both offences on 27 January. Kaddour-Cherif is also due to be sentenced for failing to attend a court hearing on 2 September last year while he was on bail.
A catalogue of errors and a national scandal
The Algerian national, who has been overstaying his visa in the UK since 2020, was at the centre of a major scandal in November. He was accidentally released from HMP Wandsworth on 29 October while he should have been held in custody awaiting trial.
The blunder was only discovered on 4 November when court officials called the prison to arrange a video link. A public tip-off led to his re-arrest in Finsbury Park three days later. Upon being detained, Kaddour-Cherif launched into an angry tirade, blaming prison officials for the mix-up and telling them to 'do their job'.
His 2024 conviction for indecent exposure in a London park resulted in an 18-month community order and placement on the sex offenders' register for five years.
System in crisis and political fallout
Kaddour-Cherif's erroneous release was a severe embarrassment for the Government, coming shortly after another migrant, Hadush Kebatu, was also wrongly freed from prison. The incident provoked fierce criticism of the then-Justice Secretary, David Lammy, who faced accusations of incompetence.
Lammy later stated, 'We inherited a prison system in crisis and I'm appalled at the rate of releases in error this is causing.' Official data from July last year revealed a shocking 128% increase in such errors, with 262 prisoners wrongly released in the year to March 2025, up from 115 the previous year.
Despite being detained at an immigration centre in June 2024 for planned deportation, Kaddour-Cherif was swiftly released on immigration bail. He remains in custody ahead of his sentencing later this month.
