Prisoner released in error from HMP Wandsworth arrested

Brahim Kaddour Cherif, a prisoner released in error from HMP Wandsworth, has been arrested.

At 11:23hrs on Friday, 7 November a call was received from a member of the public reporting a sighting of a man they believed to be Cherif on Blackstock Road in Islington.

Cherif was released in error on Wednesday, 29 October. The Met was informed on the afternoon of Tuesday, 4 November and a manhunt was launched.

The operation has involved the deployment of significant resources including local officers and also officers from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command.

Officers responded immediately to the reported sighting and at 11:30hrs detained a man matching Cherif’s description.

His identity was confirmed and he was arrested for being unlawfully at large. He was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker in relation to a previous incident.

He has been taken into police custody. The Prison Service has been informed.