A convicted sex offender who was mistakenly released from Wandsworth Prison has been arrested in north London following a week-long manhunt.
The fugitive, identified as Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian national, was detained on Friday morning in the Finsbury Park area after police received a tip-off from a member of the public.
According to the Metropolitan Police, officers were alerted at 11.23am to a possible sighting of Kaddour-Cherif near Capital City College on Blackstock Road, Islington. Officers were deployed immediately to the scene.
By 11.30am, police confirmed they had detained a man matching his description. After verifying his identity, he was arrested for being unlawfully at large following his mistaken release from HMP Wandsworth on 29 October.
Kaddour-Cherif was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker in relation to a separate, unrelated incident. He has since been taken into police custody and remains under investigation.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “The man was located and arrested without incident. His identity has been confirmed, and he is now in custody. The Prison Service has been informed.”
The Prison Service notified the Metropolitan Police of the mistaken release six days after it occurred, prompting public concern about why it took nearly a week for authorities to act. Officials have yet to explain the delay.
The Ministry of Justice said an internal investigation had been launched to determine how the error took place and why it was not immediately communicated to police.
A spokesperson said: “Public safety is our highest priority. We have initiated a full review of the circumstances surrounding this case to ensure such an incident does not happen again.”
Kaddour-Cherif came to the UK legally but is believed to have overstayed his visa. He was previously convicted of indecent exposure in November 2023, following an incident that occurred in March of that year.
He received a community order and was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years as part of his sentence. However, he was later jailed in June for possession of a knife, which led to his incarceration at Wandsworth Prison.
Following his mistaken release, a nationwide search was launched to locate him, with officers focusing on areas across London where he was known to have previous contacts.
The arrest marks the second major administrative failure at HMP Wandsworth in recent months. The facility, one of Britain’s largest and oldest prisons, has come under increasing scrutiny for repeated operational lapses.
Only five days before Kaddour-Cherif’s release, another convicted sex offender, Hadush Kebatu, was also wrongfully released from the same prison before being rearrested.
The latest incident has renewed pressure on prison authorities to tighten security protocols and strengthen coordination between correctional facilities and police agencies to prevent further errors.
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