Inmate mistakenly released from London prison arrested after more than a week of freedom

London police have apprehended a convicted sex offender who was mistakenly released from Wandsworth Prison, ending a weeklong manhunt that has intensified scrutiny of Britain’s prison system.

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was arrested Friday in north London in an operation captured by Sky News cameras. During the arrest, Kaddour-Cherif initially denied his identity before claiming his release was not his fault. “It is not my fault,” he told officers. “They released me illegally.”

The Algerian national, who had overstayed a legal visit to the UK since 2019, was serving time for trespass with intent to steal and is a registered sex offender due to a previous indecent exposure conviction. He was in the initial stages of deportation proceedings when incorrectly released.

Kaddour-Cherif is one of two inmates accidentally freed from the Victorian-era Wandsworth Prison in southwest London over the past two weeks. The other prisoner, Billy Smith, 35, who was serving nearly four years for fraud, surrendered himself at the prison on Thursday.

These incidents have sparked political controversy and raised alarms about administrative failures within Britain’s prison system. The release errors occurred despite enhanced security measures implemented after another high-profile mistake in October, when an asylum-seeker was incorrectly freed from Chelmsford Prison, east of London. That incident had already triggered anti-immigrant protests across the country.

Prison officials were summoned to an emergency meeting Thursday to address the systemic problems. Officials acknowledged that the outdated system, which still relies on paper records, contributed to the errors and requires modernization.

The pattern of mistaken releases has become increasingly problematic. Government data reveals a troubling trend: 262 prisoners were erroneously released in the year ending March 2025, representing a 128% increase compared to the previous 12-month period.

Wandsworth Prison itself has been under heightened scrutiny since another security breach two years ago, when a prisoner escaped by clinging to the underside of a food delivery truck.

The incidents have turned into a political liability for the Labour government, which took power after 14 years of Conservative rule. The opposition Conservatives blame Labour’s policy to release some inmates early to manage prison overcrowding, while Justice Secretary David Lammy points to years of austerity measures that have strained prison resources.

“We inherited a prison system in crisis and I’m appalled at the rate of releases in error this is causing,” Lammy said after Kaddour-Cherif’s arrest. “I’m determined to grip this problem, but there is a mountain to climb which cannot be done overnight.”

The errors highlight the chronic challenges facing Britain’s prison system, including overcrowding, staffing shortages, and outdated administrative processes. The UK Prison Service has been under pressure for years to modernize its operations and improve security protocols.

Criminal justice experts have long warned that Britain’s aging prison infrastructure and reduced staffing levels create conditions where administrative errors are more likely to occur. Many facilities, like Wandsworth, were built in the Victorian era and struggle to meet modern security standards despite attempts at renovation.

Following Kaddour-Cherif’s arrest, authorities are expected to conduct a comprehensive review of release procedures across all UK prisons to prevent similar incidents in the future. The Justice Secretary has indicated that technological updates and additional training for prison staff will be prioritized in the coming months.