How detectives pulled off nationwide escapee hunt

A detective has described the challenge and scale of a seven-week manhunt to find eight Albanian men who escaped from an immigration removal centre.

An episode of Channel 4's 24 Hours in Police Custody, titled Breakout, shows officers trying to locate the group who fled from Yarl's Wood detention centre near Bedford in April 2023.

Det Ch Supt Will Hodgkinson, who co-ordinated Bedfordshire Police's nationwide manhunt, said: "I've never known [a search] on this scale against eight individuals."

"Of all the individuals involved, I don't think anyone has encountered a challenge quite as large as this."

"While we do this on a daily basis, we tend not to do it on this scale and this intensity," the detective added.

During the programme, viewers see a large group escaping the detention centre during a protest using gym equipment and scaling the compound's fence.

Many were apprehended that night but eight got away and disappeared after splitting into smaller numbers.

Some of the men eventually turned themselves in, but others retreated to different locations around the country, meaning Bedfordshire Police had to collaborate with forces in West Yorkshire, the West Midlands and London.

Mr Hodgkinson specifically praised the Metropolitan Police who provided assets on the same weekend as the King's coronation.

He said: "The team supporting the investigation put a real shift in that week."

One of the first men to be located was Mariglen Coha, who was found asleep at an address in Huddersfield where he had previously been arrested.

Mr Hodgkinson said: "He was found back at that address because it was what he knew, so some of it was relatively simple."

On 7 May, three men were named by the detective in the media: "Two of the three faces that I put out handed themselves in as a result of it."

"Against each individual, you assess what your opportunities are and you work the opportunities against each individual.

"That's pretty much how it works, you just need a lot of national co-ordination, a lot of tracking and a lot of prisoner processing capability."

The detective said another challenge of the case was finding translators to help communicate with the men being arrested.

He explained: "At one stage we had an Albanian interpreter who was supporting us with three prisoners.

Going from one interview to another is quite a challenge when the individuals require interpreters.

"The logistics on this scale and at that pace was a continuous challenge."

24 Hours in Police Custody will be shown on Channel 4 at 21:00 GMT on 6 January.

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