Accidentally freed sex offender jailed for punching and biting police officers

A convicted sex offender who was accidentally freed from jail has been sentenced to 26 weeks in prison for punching and biting two police officers.

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was at the centre of a nationwide manhunt after he was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth, south west London, on 29 October last year.

The Algerian asylum seeker was arrested in Finsbury Park, north London, on 7 November.

The blunder was among a number of wrongful inmate releases, that engulfed the government in a political crisis and led to promises of tougher security measures.

Kaddour-Cherif was facing three live criminal cases and was under investigation for a fourth when he was freed.

At Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on Friday, Kaddour-Cherif was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison for assaulting two police officers at Blackhorse Road Underground station, east London, on 20 July.

Off-duty police constable Bradley Glynn saw Kaddour-Cherif take a mobile phone from a sleeping passenger while on the Tube.

PC Glynn snatched the phone out of Kaddour-Cherif's pocket and handed it back to the owner and ordered him to get off the train.

Prosecutor Kevin Kendridge said PC Glynn shouted "thief" in a bid to get Kaddour-Cherif to go away, after he looked like he was trying to reboard the train.

"(Kaddour-Cherif) punched him to the left side of his head with a closed fist, and the off-duty officer punched the defendant back," Mr Kendridge said.

PC Jason Norton, who was on duty at the station, attempted to defend PC Glynn as Kaddour-Cherif threw several punches, the court heard.

"Together they tried to take control of the defendant, but he managed to punch PC Glynn again and also bite him," Mr Kendridge said.

"He slammed PC Norton against a wall and dug his face into PC Norton's arm, at which point the officer shouted 'don't bite me'."

The court was shown pictures of bite marks left on one of the officer's arms.

At a hearing earlier in January, Kaddour-Cherif pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting an emergency worker, but insisted he did not know at the time that the two men were police officers.

Magistrate Elizabeth Robb sentenced Kaddour-Cherif to 26 weeks in prison and ordered him to pay £154 in compensation to the officers.

"It was a serious assault in both cases, prolonged and quite nasty," she said.

Addressing the court over videolink from HMP Pentonville, Kaddour-Cherif contested the version of events and accused his lawyers of not reading his statement.

"How could I fight two guys? It was two on one. I'm not that strong," he said. "They are lying."

He also claimed he had been attacked and stabbed in prison.

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Kaddour-Cherif has overstayed his visa since 2020, and has racked up a string of convictions.

He became a registered sex offender in November 2024 after he was convicted of exposing himself in a London park.

Prison authorities let Kaddour-Cherif go on 29 October 2025 after he was found not guilty of breaching the conditions of the sex offender register, without realising that he was supposed to be held in custody to await another trial for burglary.

After being arrested and returned to custody, he pleaded guilty to the burglary and knife offences, as well as failing to surrender to a court, and he was sentenced on Tuesday this week to 188 days in prison.

(c) Sky News 2026: Accidentally freed sex offender jailed for punching and biting police officers