COPS are hunting a foreign national prisoner who absconded from prison nearly a month ago.
Ola Abimbola, serving a 21-year sentence, reportedly walked out of open prison HMP Ford on October 16 and officers have not seen him since.
The 36-year-old was jailed for a variety of offences including kidnap, GBH, and possession of an offensive weapon in public.
Sussex Police said it is working hard with its partners to find the vanished prisoner.
It comes after Mark Drury a member of the Prison Governors’ Association told MailOnline the recent rise in prisoners walking out of open prisons puts the public at risk.
He warned measures taken to combat overcrowding mean “there are a large number of prisoners in open prisons now we would not have considered suitable two or three years ago”.
This follows the accidental release of Algerian migrant Brahim Kaddour-Cherif on October 29.
The 24-year-old was mistakenly set free from HMP Wandsworth and is still at large.
Kaddour-Cherif was serving time for trespass with intent to steal but he had previously committed a sexual offence of indecent exposure.
Despite being released on October 29 the error was only flagged to the Metropolitan Police six days later on Tuesday November 4.
Officers confirmed they are “carrying out urgent enquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody”.
On Monday in another embarrassment for Wandsworth, a prisoner was wrongly released the day he was sentenced, but William Smith, 35, handed himself in on Thursday.
Smith was sentenced to 45 months for several fraud offences and it is thought the mistake was made because he has the same surname as another inmate.
The Mirror reported that “Billy” Smith was sentenced with his co-defendant Joseph Smith who was given a suspended sentence, allowing him to walk free.
Meanwhile William was being held on remand in HMP Wandsworth appeared via video link, and was handed a custodial sentence.
It was reported their sentences were mixed up when put into the digital system, seeing Billy released instead.
The mistake is the latest in a shambolic series of mistakes after a two-day man-hunt was sparked after sex offender Hadush Kebatu was freed from HMP Chelmsford by accident.
The migrant, who was serving time for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, was seen strolling through the Essex town on October 24.
He was meant to be transferred to an immigration removal centre but was instead set free.
Following the chaos, David Lammy promised to implement “the strongest release checks that have ever been in place”.
When asked if any more asylum seekers had been accidentally freed after Kebatu, the Justice Secretary refused to answer.
The Sun understands he was informed about the wrongful release of Smith overnight.
