The criminal case follows the manhunt of eight Albanian men who escaped from an immigration removal centre.
In April 2023, a large group of men escaped from an immigration removal centre, which prompted a nationwide manhunt.
Channel 4 has dedicated an episode of 24 Hours in Police Custody, titled Breakout, which shows officers trying to locate the group that fled from Yarl’s Wood detention centre near Bedford.
Since its launch in September 2014, the documentary has gripped the nation, detailing the investigations led by Bedfordshire Police officers as they work around the clock to solve harrowing crimes.
Breakout, airing on Sunday (December 14), follows the complex police investigation at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Detention Centre in Milton Ernest near Bedford after eight daring Albanian detainees escaped while awaiting deportation.
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A police detective described the seven-week search for the escapees as the largest challenge he has encountered.
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.
The Channel 4 show opens with CCTV showing a group of 13 men fleeing the detention centre during a mass disorder, using gym equipment to climb over the site’s fence.
Five of the escapees were caught later the same night, but the other eight went on the run, evading police for weeks after they split into smaller groups.
Some of the men eventually turned themselves in, but others retreated to different locations around the country, requiring Bedfordshire Police 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.
What happened to the Yarl’s Wood detainees after their arrest?
The eight men who escaped from an immigration removal centre before going on the run were eventually jailed.
Bedfordshire Police also detained five other men near Yarl’s Wood shortly after the incident, in addition to the eight men who went on the run.
In total, 13 men were convicted as a result of the police investigation into the escape, for a total of more than 21 years, as well as linked drugs and fraud offences.
Rizah Koka was one of 13 men to break free from Yarl’s Wood, taking advantage of a riot to escape through an outside door in a sports hall before smashing through three fences and fleeing across the UK, reported Bedfordshire Police in 2024.
Koka and another man, Mexhit Palushi, were arrested by Bedfordshire Police and the Met Police outside a coffee shop in Colindale on May 4, 2023. They had a set of keys which led police to an address containing £50,000 of cocaine, £63,000 of cannabis, and £70,000 in cash.
While officers were searching the flat, Samuel Boka turned up and was also arrested for his part in the drugs operation.
In December 2023, the three men were jailed for a total of more than 14 years at Luton Crown Court.
All three men pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and cocaine, as well as possession of criminal property.
Palushi was handed a sentence of five years and three months, Koka was given five years, which included a six-month sentence for escaping lawful custody, and Boka was jailed for four years.
Another man, who was 26 years old at the time of the escape, was jailed for 22 months after admitting violent disorder.
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Inwood from Bedfordshire Police CID, who led the investigation, said at the time of sentencing: “This was a dangerous and brazen escape attempt by men who were awaiting deportation.
“Thousands of hours have been spent by our Bedfordshire officers and staff, as well as law enforcement colleagues across the country, in order to apprehend those who escaped. This behaviour was completely unacceptable and a flagrant breach of the law.”
Yarl’s Wood, in Milton Ernest, is an immigration removal centre where people with disputed immigration status can be detained without a defined time limit. It has been run by Serco since 2007.
24 Hours in Police Custody: Breakout originally aired on Channel 4 in January 2024 and is being rebroadcast on Sunday, December 14 at 9pm on Channel 4.
