Knifeman jailed for 9 years freed in error after 9 months
POLICE are hunting an “extremely dangerous” prisoner after he was released years early in an apparent clerical error.
Ralston Dodd, 25, was jailed on Nov 11 after he admitted stabbing a man three times in the back following an argument on a north London street.
The attack was described as an “appalling act of violence” by police and left the 21-year-old victim fighting for his life. Dodd went on the run before being arrested, tried, and sentenced to nine years’ in prison.
Now police have launched a second search for Dodd, after he was released in error after a court incorrectly recorded his sentence. According to The Sun, it is believed staff misheard the judge’s sentence and filled in forms for a nine-month term.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said it was urgently investigating and a warrant for Dodd’s re-arrest had been issued. Scotland Yard appealed for information to trace Dodd, who detectives described as “unlawfully at large”.
He attacked his victim with a knife in Laycock Street, Islington, on Sept 18 last year. He was being held at Thameside prison when he was released. An MOJ spokesman said releases in error were “extremely rare but we take any case very seriously”.
She added: “We are urgently investigating so we learn the lessons to prevent it happening again. Public protection is our priority.”