A man jailed for abducting his five-year-old son may have left the United Kingdom within the three days it took prison staff to notify police of his mistaken release, the High Court has been told.
Mistaken Release from HMP Pentonville
Ifedayo Adeyeye, 58, was freed from HMP Pentonville in North London on April 21, despite having been sentenced to a 12-month jail term for contempt of court just one day earlier. He was also due to be extradited to France upon completion of his sentence. Prison staff allowed his release despite the court order, a mistake that has drawn sharp criticism from the judiciary.
Mr Justice Hayden revealed at a hearing on Monday that after his release, Adeyeye “strolled about” the London area, enjoyed a “very nice dinner” and consumed “quite a lot of drink” at a local pub. He then transferred thousands of pounds from his bank account to others before allegedly travelling to Spain the following day. Prison staff did not contact the Metropolitan Police until the afternoon of April 24, three days later.
Judicial Criticism and Public Concern
Mr Justice Hayden stated: “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 blunder became public earlier this month after the judge allowed reporting of the issue on May 1, during which he described an “alarming lack of urgency” from prison staff.
The judge characterized the abduction as “an act of cruelty that even this court rarely sees” and labelled Adeyeye as “arrogant and manipulative”, and “cold and calculated”.
Background of the Abduction
In June 2025, Mr Justice Hayden ruled that Adeyeye, a dual British-Nigerian national, abducted his son Laurys N’Djosse Adeyeye from his mother, Claire N’Djosse, in France and took him to Nigeria via the United Kingdom. The abduction occurred on July 27, 2024, the first time Laurys was staying overnight with his father. Ms N’Djosse has not seen her son since and has been fighting through the English courts for his return. In a legal first, the High Court asserted its power to order Adeyeye to return Laurys to his mother, even though the boy did not live in the UK.
After failing to comply, Adeyeye was arrested upon his return to the UK and jailed for six months in January 2025 for contempt. On April 20, the day before his scheduled release, he received an additional 12-month sentence for further contempt offences—only to be mistakenly freed the next day.
Police Response and Ongoing Investigation
Police informed the court that Adeyeye “may have entered Spain” on April 22 and that Spanish authorities have been notified. The Metropolitan Police stated: “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.” They also acknowledged the trauma for Ms N’Djosse and her son.
Police noted that the prison service attributed the release to a “communication failure” with the court, a suggestion Mr Justice Hayden dismissed as “entirely groundless”. Chris Bryden, representing Ms N’Djosse, said: “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.”
Broader Context of Prison Errors
Data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) released last month showed that 179 inmates were wrongly released between April 2025 and March 2026. The issue gained prominence after the mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu, who was jailed for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Epping, Essex, sparking protests last year. The MoJ has said it is investing up to £82 million to reduce accidental releases, acknowledging that it “inherited a prison system in crisis after years of underinvestment”.
