A British-Nigerian man serving a prison sentence in the United Kingdom for abducting his son has reportedly fled the country after prison authorities mistakenly released him from custody.
The man, identified as Ifedayo Adeyeye, was serving jail terms linked to the abduction of his son, Laurys Adeyeye, from France to Nigeria through the UK.
At a court hearing on Monday, it emerged that officials at HMP Pentonville failed to notify police immediately after the mistaken release, allowing Adeyeye a three-day head start before Scotland Yard launched a manhunt.
According to reports by The Telegraph UK, a judge had previously ruled that Adeyeye unlawfully took the child away from his mother, Claire N’Djosse, in France and transported him to Nigeria.
The court heard that Laurys, who was born and raised in France, had lived with his mother since birth and had only spent one overnight visit with his father on July 27, 2024 — the same day the abduction reportedly occurred.
After allegedly refusing to comply with court orders directing the child’s return, Adeyeye was arrested upon returning to the UK and sentenced to six months imprisonment in January for contempt of court.
He later received an additional 12-month sentence on April 20 after again failing to facilitate the child’s return to his mother.
However, prison authorities reportedly released him the next day after officials responsible for processing inmate releases were not informed about the fresh sentence.
The court later criticised what it described as an “alarming lack of urgency” by prison authorities in responding to the error.
The presiding judge warned that the escape might have been prevented if police had been contacted immediately after the mistaken release.
“If the police had been contacted immediately, this could perhaps, almost certainly perhaps, have been prevented. The public is entitled to expect far better than this,” the judge said.
At Monday’s hearing, the court was informed that Adeyeye is believed to have travelled to Spain shortly after leaving prison and may have exited the UK on April 22.
The Metropolitan Police said efforts were ongoing to locate and arrest him.
“The Metropolitan Police recognises both the seriousness of this matter and how traumatic the present situation must be for both [Ms N’Djosse] and her son,” police told the court.
“We are using the powers at our disposal to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry to locate and arrest [Adeyeye] and will continue to do so diligently and expeditiously.”
The incident has intensified concerns about prison administration failures in the UK, especially following official data from the Ministry of Justice showing that 179 inmates were mistakenly released between April 2025 and March 2026.
The case also mirrors a similar incident involving another Nigerian-born inmate, Ola Abimbola, who reportedly escaped from HMP Ford in 2025 while serving a 21-year sentence for kidnapping.
