A prisoner who was wrongly released from HMP Wandsworth has a history of sex offences and knife crime, it has emerged. Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was freed by mistake last Wednesday, but the error was only reported to the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday.
Kaddour-Cherif was serving a sentence for indecent exposure when he was accidentally released. He had exposed himself to a woman in Lloyd Park, Walthamstow, in March last year, days after failing to appear in court on burglary charges. He was convicted in November 2024 and given an 18-month community order, placed on the sex offenders' register for five years.
He was arrested again in September this year for failing to appear at court, breaching probation, and violating sex offender register conditions. He has also been charged with possession of a knife and another count of burglary. The Algerian national is not believed to be an asylum seeker, but his visa had reportedly expired.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said he was 'absolutely outraged' and that officials have been working through the night to recapture him. The mistaken release came just days after an independent investigation was launched into similar errors, following the case of migrant Hadush Kebatu, who was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford in October.
