A police officer told Brahim Kaddour-Cherif that he had a “very distinctive wonky nose”, which matched images of the mistakenly released prisoner, as the inmate claimed he was somebody else during his arrest.
Footage of the 24-year-old’s detention, captured by Sky News, showed him denying that he was “Brahim” before saying it was not his fault he was released.
He was arrested in Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park, north London, earlier on Friday, more than a week after the blunder which saw him released from HMP Wandsworth in the capital.
The video showed him initially standing by the passenger window of a police van wearing a grey hoodie, black beanie and black backpack.
He told a reporter: “I’m not Brahim.”
When asked if he knew him, he said: “Everyone knows him, he’s in (the) news.”
Police began to handcuff his hands in front of him, with one officer telling him: “You’re going to be placed under arrest on suspicion of being wanted … because you look identical to the person released from custody.
“We’re arresting you to prevent your disappearance from location and to prevent any further harm to individuals by your release.”
The prisoner said: “But I’m not Brahim bro.”
The officer continued: “We are just going to do some further checks because you look exactly like the person.
“I’ve had a look at the photo, you’ve got a very distinctive wonky nose which looks the same as the person.”
Police brought him to the back of the van and held up an image of Kaddour-Cherif next to his face before un-cuffing and re-cuffing his hands behind his back.
Officers searched his backpack and found a laptop, umbrella and wallet.
Before he was put in the back of the van, he turned to those gathered and said: “Look at the justice of the UK, they release people by mistake, after this they ‘ah ah ah’.
“It’s not my f****** fault, they released me … the judge he told me you are released.”
