A convicted sex offender who was accidentally released from Wandsworth prison a week ago is back in custody. Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, from Algeria, was freed on 29 October and arrested in Finsbury Park, north London, on Friday after a member of the public alerted police.
The arrest was captured by a Sky News camera crew. Officers approached Kaddour-Cherif, who initially denied his identity, but the arresting officer noted his 'very distinctive wonky nose'. He was placed in a police van, and a search of his backpack revealed a laptop, umbrella and wallet.
Kaddour-Cherif had been serving a sentence for trespass with intent to steal and was on the sex offender register for indecent exposure. He entered the UK on a visitor visa in 2019 and was identified as an overstayer in 2020, but had not been deported. He had not applied for asylum.
The Metropolitan Police expressed frustration that the mistaken release was only reported to them a week later, giving Kaddour-Cherif a 'six-day head start'. Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was 'appalled at the rate of releases in error' and thanked police for their work.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticised the government, calling for the prisoner to be deported 'as soon as his sentence is finished'. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the case exposed the 'scale of the crisis in our prisons' inherited from the previous government.
