Sex offender mistakenly set free from prison rearrested

The sex offender mistakenly released from prison last week was arrested by police in London yesterday after being spotted by a member of the public.

- REBECCA WHITTAKER

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was serving a sentence at HMP Wandsworth in southwest London when he was set free on 29 October, sparking a nine-day manhunt. The Algerian national was arrested in Islington.

Kaddour-Cherif has convictions for theft and had previously also been convicted for indecent exposure. The release, as well as that of fraudster Billy Smith, 35, who handed himself in on Thursday, has piled pressure on justice secretary David Lammy, who yesterday admitted there was a “mountain to climb” to tackle the crisis in the prison system.

During his arrest Kaddour-Cherif tried to claim he was somebody else. The officer said: “We are just going to do some further checks because you look exactly like the person. I’ve had a look at the photo, you’ve got a very distinctive wonky nose which looks the same as the person.”

Nadjib Mekdhia, who is also Algerian, claimed he called the police after spotting Kaddour-Cherif and said he is “glad he is in prison”.

Mr Mekdhia, 50, who is homeless and stays in the Finsbury Park area of north London, said he recognised the prisoner from a newspaper photograph.