Sex offender launched from jail by mistake recognized as Brahim Kaddour-Cherif
A sex offender who was mistakenly let out of a high-security prison last week and is still on the loose has been identified as Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, reports BBC.
The 24-year-old was last seen in court at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in September, facing charges of failing to comply with sex offender requirements. Kaddour-Cherif was accidentally released from HMP Wandsworth in London on October 29 and remains at large. He was serving a sentence for trespassing with intent to steal, but has a history of sexual offences.
The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that the man is of Algerian origin and are now conducting urgent investigations to “locate him and return him to custody”.
(Image: PA)
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour MP for Tooting, expressed her horror at the news, given the prisoner’s “shocking list of offences”. Speaking to the Mirror, she said: “Local residents will quite rightly be deeply concerned. We urgently need answers from the Government and Ministry of Justice as to how this was allowed to happen.”
This incident follows hot on the heels of another blunder where a convicted sex offender was accidentally released from HMP Chelmsford in Essex, only to be spotted catching a train to London.
Hadush Kebatu, 38, remained on the run for three days before his capture in a north London park. The Ethiopian national was photographed being escorted away by a team of plain-clothes officers near a bus stop in Finsbury Park on October 26.
He was merely weeks into a 12-month prison term for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and woman in Essex. Kebatu had been residing at the Bell Hotel in Epping when he committed his offences.
Following his recapture, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed he would “be deported”, stating “we must make sure this doesn’t happen again”.
(Image: PA Archive)
In September 2023, prisoner Daniel Khalife sparked a massive manhunt after escaping HMP Wandsworth by securing himself beneath a food delivery van using an improvised sling made from bedsheets.
The then-21 year old was apprehended three days later beside a canal in west London.
Responding to this latest incident, David Lammy declared he was “absolutely outraged and appalled by the mistaken release of a foreign criminal wanted by the police”.
Lammy went on: “Victims deserve better and the public deserve answers. That is why I have already brought in the strongest checks ever to clamp down on such failures and ordered an independent investigation, led by Dame Lynne Owens to uncover what went wrong and address the rise in accidental releases which has persisted for too long.
“This latest incident exposes deeper flaws across the failing criminal justice system we inherited. Dame Lynne Owens’ investigation will leave no stone unturned to identify these issues, so we can fix them, improve safeguards and ensure the public is properly protected.”
The Met Police is due to make a statement on the latest incident.
