The Metropolitan Police have revealed that a 17-year-old boy has been bailed five times by courts despite repeated arrests for serious offences including robbery and making and distributing indecent images of children. The case has prompted frustration from senior officers, who argue that the repeated releases undermine public safety and hamper their efforts to manage repeat offenders.

Between June and September, the teenager was arrested on suspicion of two robberies, making and distributing indecent images of children, and two breaches of his electronic tag conditions. Four of these alleged offences and breaches occurred whilst he was already on court bail, and police officers spent 23-hour shifts reviewing indecent images found on two devices following his most recent arrest. Despite being charged, the courts granted him bail once again, prompting Detective Sergeant Wess Kalam to express investigators' frustration at seeing the individual repeatedly released back into the community.