A British-Nigerian father who was imprisoned in the United Kingdom for abducting his five-year-old son remains at large after being mistakenly released from prison, a court has heard. The incident has been described as a colossal state failure.
Ifedayo Adedapo Kolawoe Adeyeye walked out of HMP Pentonville on April 21 despite still having a year left to serve before being extradited to France. Justice Hayden, delivering his verdict on Friday, May 1, 2026, condemned what he called an alarming lack of urgency among prison staff involved in the blunder.
The judge questioned whether police fully grasped the severity of the situation, stating he was not even sure if the police have any impression of the seriousness of the case. The dual British-Nigerian national, who worked as an engineer, snatched his son Laurys N'Djosse Adeyeye from his mother Claire N'Djosse during what was the boy's first overnight stay with his father on July 27, 2024.
Mr Justice Hayden ruled last June that Adeyeye had taken the child from France to Nigeria via the United Kingdom, describing the incident as falling within the most serious class of cases. The judge characterised the abduction as involving complex, sophisticated, long-term planning and deception by the father.
In this shocking case, Ms N'Djosse has been separated from her son for nearly two years since he was taken. A Nigerian court subsequently granted parental responsibility for the boy to two individuals, thought to be relatives of Adeyeye, without the mother's knowledge or agreement. French authorities are also seeking to capture Adeyeye in connection with the abduction.
Staff at Pentonville did not realise their mistake until April 23, a full two days after the convicted offender had walked out the door. It was only then that authorities issued an alert to prevent him from fleeing the country. Barrister Chris Bryden, acting for Ms N'Djosse, told the court prison officials had emailed his client's solicitors with an apology, acknowledging they had released Mr Adeyeye in error because the second jail term was not flagged up.
Mr Justice Hayden expressed bewilderment at how the officers who had attended Adeyeye's second sentencing hearing on April 20 did not mention it to someone else when he got back to the prison. Adeyeye was described as a dangerous threat to his son's physical and emotional welfare who had been entirely dishonest throughout proceedings.
Adeyeye's detention in custody is the best, perhaps the only, hope of reunification of this boy with his mother, the judge said. Ms N'Djosse, who observed Friday's hearing from France with assistance from an interpreter, has been left devastated by the ordeal, according to the judge, who described her suffering as visceral and unbearable to watch.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they were notified by the Prison Service at approximately 1pm on April 24 that Adeyeye had been wrongly released, with officers now carrying out urgent inquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody. Forum Shah, a partner at Dawson Cornwell solicitors representing Ms N'Djosse, urged anyone with knowledge of Adeyeye's location to contact the police immediately.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: We understand the distress that releases in error can cause to victims and their families, and are working with the police to recapture this individual. We inherited a prison system in crisis after years of underinvestment, which has resulted in unacceptable rises in release errors. That is why Government is taking the bold and decisive action needed to fix it - investing up to 82 million pounds to digitise outdated paper-based systems, roll out biometrics, and strengthen checks across the courts so we can drive down these mistakes and better protect the public.
Official statistics revealed that 262 inmates were mistakenly freed in the year ending March 2025 - a 128 percent rise from the 115 wrongful releases recorded in the prior twelve-month period. One of the most prolific cases in recent months is that of Hadush Kebatu, who was jailed for sexual assault of a 14-year-old and a woman in Epping, before being mistakenly released by prison staff from HMP Chelmsford.
