A migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from Chelmsford prison on Friday is the second person to be freed by mistake while detained at the jail.
Two years ago the jail authorities were duped into freeing a conman after a fake email from the Royal Courts of Justice said he should be released on bail.
Junead Ahmed, 36, was awaiting sentence after admitting posing as a doctor to rent a house he couldn’t afford and buy a home worth more than £2m.
He was released from Chelmsford prison and, like Hadush Kebatu last week, strolled out of the main door. He was free for two days in June 2023.
The authorities realised their mistake only after becoming suspicious when they received similar emails urging the release of two more prisoners, Adam Mohammed and Charlie Whittaker.
An investigation established the emails were forged and the next day a hunt began for the fraudsters and Junead Ahmed.
Two days later Ahmed was arrested after police found him hiding in the loft of a house they raided in Shenfield, Essex, 10 miles from the jail.
He was eventually jailed for four years for his six original fraud offences.
During the investigation police also arrested his wife Nazash Akhtar – and later Charlie Whittaker’s mother Charlotte Whittaker, 49, whose mobile phone showed texts arranging the escape of all three prisoners.
Police identified Aaryan Noor Ali, 20, as the man who had created and sent the fake emails from the court.
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Last month Ahmed, Charlotte Whittaker, Charlie Whittaker, 28, Akhtar and Noor Ali admitted conspiracy to escape lawful custody,
Adam Mohammed, 29, admitted attempting to escape lawful custody.
Detective Chief Inspector Rob Huddleston said: “This was a sophisticated operation headed up by Ahmed and his wife Nazash Akhtar, 41, which ultimately planned to free three men from lawful custody.
“However, it very quickly unravelled when the prison alerted us to what had happened. Later in the same day, Ahmed was arrested hiding in his loft, Akhtar was arrested at her front door and within days, the wider conspiracy was uncovered and those involved in it rounded up and taken into custody.
“This was a complex and challenging investigation to evidence the conspiracy, conducted diligently and professionally by the team which left the defendants no choice but to plead guilty.”
Mark Leech, editor of The Prisons Handbook for England and Wales, said: “It is vital to see these serious security failures not as isolated events but in the broader context of a prison system that has been in a state of crisis and collapse for years and it urgently needs investment if these security breaches are not to be repeated.”
