24 Hours in Police Custody: What happened to the detainees who escaped from Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre?
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IN April 2023, a large group of men escaped from an immigration centre near Bedford which prompted a nationwide manhunt. The shocking crime ended in a series of arrests across England and will be examined in the Channel 4 documentary 24 Hours in Police Custody: Breakout.
![[A group of detainees escaped from the Yarl's Wood Detention Centre]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-uhfgt0193-1736158642400.jpg?1736158665&strip=all&w=960)
The detainees’ escape from Yarl’s Wood detention centre, Bedfordshire began in the facility’s gymnasium when a protest by the inmates spiraled out of control. After driving staff out of the room, the inmates covered up the building’s security cameras and seized some gym equipment.
![[The breakout began after a protest in the gymnasium]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-9iqmupmad-1736158666201.jpg?1736158681&strip=all&w=960)
They used the equipment to aid them in their escape, which saw them scale the compound’s fence. Most of the detainees were apprehended on the same night of their escape, but several managed to get away. Det Supt Will Hodgkinson co-ordinated Bedfordshire Police’s nationwide manhunt.
![[The police launched a manhunt for the missing detainees]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-8tk3b8bcc-1736159013062.jpg?1736159030&strip=all&w=960)
When talking about the search for the missing inmates, he 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.". Mariglen Coha was one of the first men apprehended following the breakout.
![[The detainees who escaped Yarl's Wood Detention Centre (pictured) were all caught]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-lklyltq1v-1736159432890.jpg?1736159466&strip=all&w=960)
Police discovered him at an address in Huddersfield, where he had been arrested previously. Det Supt Will Hodgkinson said that Coha had returned to the address “because it was what he knew” and said that his capture was “relatively simple”. Two other suspects named Rizah Koka and Mexhit Palushi were tracked to a coffee shop in Bedfordshire.
![[24 Hours in Police Custody: Breakout will air on Channel 4]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-rl1koqz9y-1736158682512.jpg?1736158699&strip=all&w=960)
