£17K BILL FOR SMALL BOATS KILLER SUSPECT FORGOTTEN BY PRISON

Suspect in 27 migrant deaths not at hearing

- BEN TURNER

AN alleged ringleader of the worst small boats tragedy in the Channel will spend four more months in Britain at the taxpayers' expense after a blunder by prison officials.

Harem Ahmed Abwbaker, 33, is wanted in France in connection with the deaths of 27 migrants in 2021.

He was due to appear at a full extradition hearing this month but jail officials failed to bring him before the court, meaning the hearing had to be rescheduled to August 14.

It will cost the taxpayer approximately £17,000 to keep Abwbaker, an Iranian national, in custody until the new hearing.

The total bill for his time at HMP Wandsworth is already estimated to be over £80,000.