UK police hunt for two more wrongly freed prisoners

Summary

• Police are hunting for Brahim Kaddour Cherif, a registered sex offender, mistakenly released from Wandsworth prison on October 29.
• This error follows the recent mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu, prompting outrage and raising concerns about prison system failures.
• The incidents fuel criticism of Prime Minister Starmer's government amid rising support for the Reform UK party and immigration concerns.

LONDON - British police said on Nov 5 they had launched a manhunt for two prisoners, including an Algerian, mistakenly released from jail, angering parliamentarians at the latest mix-up committed by the UK’s beleaguered prison system.

The error heaps further embarrassment on Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s struggling centre-left Labour government as the hard-right, anti-immigrant Reform UK party surges
in national polls.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said in a statement it was looking for 24-year-old Brahim Kaddour Cherif, a registered sex offender, after he was released in error a week ago.

“Cherif has had a six-day head start but we are working urgently to close the gap and establish his whereabouts,” said commander Paul Trevers, who is leading the investigation.

A police statement said the force was informed on Nov 4 that Cherif had been mistakenly let out of Wandsworth prison in south-west London on Oct 29.

Separately, police in Surrey, south-west of London, said that Wandsworth prison had on Nov 3 mistakenly released another man convicted of multiple fraud offences.

Cherif was convicted in November 2024 of indecent exposure relating to an incident in March that year and placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years, the police added.

Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was “absolutely outraged” and “appalled” by the mistake, which came just days after stronger prison security checks were introduced.

The checks were implemented after Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian asylum seeker convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, was mistakenly released from prison
before being recaptured following a 48-hour manhunt.

The UK government then forcibly deported Kebatu, giving him £500 (S$850) to leave the country, and launched an independent investigation into his accidental release.

Kebatu’s arrest earlier this year in Epping, north-east of London, triggered weeks of demonstrations
targeting hotels where asylum seekers were believed to be housed.

The interior ministry confirmed that Cherif is not an asylum seeker and that he entered the country legally in 2019.

It added though that he had overstayed his visit and insisted it seeks to deport foreign nationals who commit crimes in Britain.

Mr Starmer, prime minister since July 2024, is coming under fire on multiple fronts over immigration as Reform, led by firebrand Brexit champion Nigel Farage, soars in popularity.

Polls show that Mr Starmer is deeply unpopular with the British public, although the next general election is not expected until 2029.

His official spokesman said the latest accidental release was “utterly unacceptable”, but suggested the previous Conservative government was partly to blame for leaving behind a “chaotic” and overcrowded prison system.

Figures showed 262 people were freed from prison in error between March 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the 21 months previously. AFP