Child abductor freed by mistake 'strolled around' London and went to pub before fleeing UK, court told

A man jailed over the abduction of his son may have left the UK in the three days it took prison staff to tell police he had been mistakenly released.

Ifedayo Adeyeye was freed from HMP Pentonville on 21 April despite being sentenced to a year in jail only the day before, the High Court was told.

The judge said Adeyeye had "strolled about" London, enjoyed "a very nice dinner [and] had quite a lot to drink" at a pub.

Adeyeye is also said to have transferred thousands of pounds to others, before potentially travelling to Spain the next day.

Prison staff didn't contact police until the afternoon of 24 April.

"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," said Mr Justice Hayden.

Adeyeye was sentenced after abducting his five-year-old son, Laurys, from his mother in France in July 2024, and taking him to Nigeria via the UK.

His mother hasn't seen him since, and has been battling to get him back via UK courts.

In a legal first, the High Court ruled it had the power to order Adeyeye to return the boy, despite him not being in this country.

Adeyeye was originally jailed for six months for contempt of court in January for failing to return the boy, and received another 12 months on 20 April for further contempt offences. It was the next day that he was freed by mistake.

The judge said the state had "failed", and prison staff had shown an "alarming lack of urgency".

At Monday's hearing, he described Adeyeye as "arrogant and manipulative", and said the abduction was "an act of cruelty that even this court rarely sees".

Metropolitan Police told the court he may have entered Spain on 22 April, and that authorities there have been informed.

The Met said the prison service had blamed his release on a "communication failure" with the court, something Mr Justice Hayden called "an entirely groundless suggestion".

A solicitor for the boy's mother told the court: "Not only has the state failed her by the release of the father, but the state has failed her by not informing the Metropolitan Police promptly when quite clearly he could have been picked up."

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Ministry of Justice data published last month showed 179 inmates were wrongly released between April 2025 and March 2026.

The issue made headlines last year when migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu, who assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Epping, was freed accidentally.

He was recaptured after a few days, and later deported to Ethiopia with a £500 payment.

(c) Sky News 2026: Child abductor freed by mistake 'strolled around' London and went to pub before fleeing UK, cou