By Desire Emmanuel with Agency Reports
A Nigerian-born father who was mistakenly released from prison after abducting his five-year-old son may have left the United Kingdom in the three days it took for prison staff to tell the police about his disappearance, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday, May 12.
Ifedayo Adeyeye was released from His Majesty Prison (HMP), Pentonville in London on April 21, having been jailed for contempt of court over the abduction of the son, Laurys N’Djosse Adeyeye.
Prison staff allowed the 58-year-old to be released despite him being ordered to serve a 12-month sentence the day before.
The court heard that after being released, Adeyeye ‘strolled about’ the London area, where he had ‘a very nice dinner’ and had ‘quite a lot of drink’ at a local pub.
He then transferred thousands of pounds to others from a bank account and is believed to have travelled to Spain the following day.
During this time, the British Metropolitan Police were unaware that Adeyeye was out of prison and weren’t informed until prison staff notified them on April 24.
Mr Justice Hayden said at a hearing on Monday: “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.”
In June last year, the same judge ruled that Adeyeye abducted Laurys from his mother Claire N’Djosse, in France and took him to Nigeria via the United Kingdom.
The judge said Laurys was born in France and had lived with Ms N’Djosse since birth.
The day of the abduction on July 27, 2024 was the first time that Laurys had stayed overnight with his father, Mr Justice Hayden said.
Ms N’Djosse has not seen her son since and has been trying to secure his return through the English courts.
Mr Justice Hayden ruled in a legal first that the High Court had the power to order that Adeyeye return Laurys to his mother, even though the boy did not live in the UK.
After he failed to do so, Adeyeye was arrested upon his return to the UK and was jailed for six months in January for contempt of court.
The day before he was due to be released, Adeyeye was jailed for a further 12 months on April 20 for further contempt of court offences.
The following day, he was mistakenly released by prison staff.
The blunder became public knowledge earlier this month after Mr Justice Hayden allowed reporting of the issue at a hearing on May 1.
The judge said the state has ‘failed’ and that there was an ‘alarming lack of urgency’ from prison staff.
On Monday, the judge said that the abduction was ‘an act of cruelty that even this court rarely sees’ and described Adeyeye as ‘arrogant and manipulative’, and ‘cold and calculated.’
Police told the court that Adeyeye ‘may have entered Spain’ on April 22 and that authorities in the country had been notified.
They added: “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.
“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.”
Police said that the prison service told them that Adeyeye was released due to a ‘communication failure’ with the court, which Mr Justice Hayden described as ‘an entirely groundless suggestion.’
Chris Bryden, counsel for 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.”
Adeyeye, an engineer, is also wanted by authorities in France over the incident.
