Police search for kidnapper who absconded from HMP Ford

Ola Abimbola was sentenced to 21 years in prison for offences including kidnap, grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon in public at Croydon Crown Court on December 7, 2018.

He absconded from HMP Ford, an open prison, on October 10 and was last seen leaving the prison that day at around 8.03am.

Anyone who sees him should not approach him and should call 999 immediately, quoting crime reference 47250201391.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "This was a horrific crime and our thoughts remain with the victim. 

“This government inherited a justice system in crisis, with prisons days away from collapse and were forced to take firm action to get the situation back under control.

"The small number of offenders eligible for moves to open prison face a strict, thorough risk assessment and anyone found breaching the rules can be immediately returned to a closed prison. 

 “We are also keeping the most dangerous offenders off the streets by expanding prison capacity with 14,000 new places by 2031 and introducing sentencing reforms to force prisoners to earn their way to release or face longer in jail for bad behaviour.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy has recently come under fire for how he dealt with the mistaken release of a prisoner from HMP Wandsworth in south west London.

The prisoner, 24-year-old Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, was returned to the jail on Friday.

Mr Lammy admitted there was a “mountain to climb” to tackle the crisis in the prison system following the arrest.

PA News Agency reported that 262 prisoners in England and Wales were mistakenly released in the year to March 2025.