British authorities have launched a manhunt for a British man of Nigerian origin accused of kidnapping his five-year-old son from France to Nigeria after he was mistakenly released from a London jail and could flee the UK within days.Ifedayo Adeyeye, 58, was released from London’s HMP Pentonville prison on April 21, despite serving an additional 12 months in prison the previous day for repeatedly defying court orders to return his son Laurys to his mother in France.After his release, Adeye “walked” around London for several hours, enjoying dinner and drinks at a bar before allegedly traveling to Spain the next day, according to court proceedings reported by Sky News. Police were reportedly informed of the prison blunder just three days later, prompting severe criticism from the courts.High Court judge Hayden called it a shocking state failure and said prison authorities showed a “shocking lack of urgency”.“This may have been, almost certainly, avoidable had the police been contacted immediately. The public are entitled to expect better than this,” the judge said.
Children abducted during first sleepover
The case centers on Laurys N’Djosse Adeyeye, a five-year-old boy born in France to Adeyeye and Cameroon national Claire N’Djosse.The couple met in Grenoble in 2020 and later separated. After a DNA test confirmed that Adeyeye was Lauris’ biological father, a French court granted him supervised visitation rights, but full custody remained with his mother.Trouble began in July 2024 when Lawless spent the night with his father for the first time.Instead of returning the child, Adeyeye allegedly took him from France to the UK and then to Nigeria without the mother’s consent.When Njos pressed for answers, Adeyeye claimed the child had been on holiday with relatives for “two weeks”. Investigators later discovered he had secretly taken Lauris out of France.French authorities later issued an international arrest warrant for him on child kidnapping charges.UK court invokes rare powerThe matter later took an unusual legal turn, with England’s High Court ruling that it had the power to order the children’s repatriation even if Lawless was outside the UK.Judge Hayden noted that the case was unusual in that it involved three countries – France, the UK and Nigeria. The court also noted that Nigeria is not a signatory to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, which complicates efforts to secure the boy’s return.Still, the High Court invoked its “inherent jurisdiction” based on Lawless’s British nationality and ordered Adeye to return the children directly to France.Adeyeye was jailed for six months for contempt of court in January 2026 after repeatedly ignoring court orders. While serving his sentence, he was found guilty of further offenses and was sentenced to another 12 months in prison on 20 April.However, prison officials allegedly failed to process the new sentence in a timely manner, resulting in his wrongful release the next morning.
Judge calls kidnapping ‘cruel act’
Judge Hayden described Adeyeye as “arrogant and manipulative”, “cold and calculating” and said the kidnapping was “an act of cruelty rarely seen even by this court”.“He now found himself in a strange country without a father or a mother,” the judge said of Lawless, adding that the child’s entire world had been “robbed.”The judge also highlighted concerns raised during a monitoring visit to France before the kidnapping. Contact center staff reportedly described Adeyeye as combative, dismissive and uninterested in understanding his son’s daily life or emotional needs.
The suspect may have fled to Spain
At a recent hearing, the Metropolitan Police told the court that Adeyeye may have traveled to Spain on April 22, the day after he was mistakenly released. Spanish authorities were reportedly alerted.The court heard prison officials blamed the release on a “failure of communication” with the court, a claim Judge Hayden dismissed as “completely baseless”.Lawyers representing Ms Njosi accused British authorities of repeatedly failing the mother and son.Her lawyer, Chris Bryden, said: “The state failed her not only by releasing her father, but they also failed her by not notifying the Metropolitan Police in a timely manner.”
Court lifts anonymity to aid search
In a rare move, the High Court allowed the identities and photos of Adeyeye and Lawless to be released to help track them down.Family court proceedings involving children are usually confidential, but the judge ruled that exceptional circumstances and the public interest justified transparency.Britain’s Ministry of Justice said it was working with police to recapture Adeyeye and acknowledged growing concerns about the wrongful release of prisoners.Official figures show that 179 prisoners in England and Wales were mistakenly released between April 2025 and March 2026.