Prison System Under Fire After Inmate Escapes in Fellow Cellmate’s Bag As He’s Released

• A 20-year-old French prisoner escaped from Lyon-Corbas prison by hiding in a laundry bag wheeled out by his cellmate
• Police recaptured him two days later in a village cellar as investigations now link his breakout to organised crime
• The escape has triggered outrage over overcrowding, with Lyon-Corbas prison operating at 170% of its intended capacity

French authorities have recaptured a 20-year-old prisoner who pulled off a daring escape from Lyon-Corbas prison.

The inmate, identified as Elyazid A., also known as “the Joker” or “the Equaliser” was caught days after he escaped from prison by hiding inside a laundry bag wheeled out by his cellmate.

The inmate was arrested on the morning of Monday, July 14, just outside Lyon, two days after slipping past prison guards unnoticed.

According to French prison officials, the inmate took advantage of a rare opportunity on Friday, July 11, when his cellmate was being released.

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As the cellmate wheeled out his personal laundry on a trolley, the escapee had hidden himself inside a large plastic bag filled with clothes.

Surprisingly, the escape was only discovered nearly 24 hours later. This led to critical concerns about security lapses and severe overcrowding at French prisons.

Police rearrest escapee in a village cellar

Police say the fugitive was found in a cellar in a village 25 kilometres from Lyon, hiding underground after days on the run.

His recapture brought relief, but the dramatic breach has sparked wider debates about systemic failures within the French prison system.

“This is an extremely rare event that we’ve never encountered in this administration,” said Sébastien Cauwel, France’s prison director, in an interview with BFMTV. “It clearly shows a whole series of serious failures… an accumulation of errors.”

The escapee was already under investigation for links to organised crime, and officials are now treating the breakout as part of a criminal conspiracy, according to reports from BBC and AFP.

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Lyon-Corbas prison: Calls for restructuring

Meanwhile, attention has turned to Lyon-Corbas prison itself, which is currently operating at 170% capacity.

Designed for 678 inmates, it currently holds over 1,200 detainees, a situation that the Lyon Bar Association previously flagged in May 2025.

France's prison director also admitted that the overcrowding has made it harder for officers to maintain control.

In his words:

“It compromises both safety and working conditions.”

This is not the first prison scandal to grip France. Back in 2024, one Mohamed Amra, a high-risk prisoner nicknamed “The Fly”, managed to escape custody during a violent ambush on a prison convoy in Normandy.

He was later arrested in Romania in early 2025, but the incident exposed vulnerabilities in the justice system.

As investigations continue, critics say this episode highlights more than one inmate slipping away. They say it exposes the deep cracks in France’s justice infrastructure.

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Prisons PRO addresses Agradaa's escape rumours

YEN.com.gh had earlier reported that Adamu Latif, the Ghana Prisons Service PRO, recently addressed the rumour over Agradaa's whereabouts after her sentencing.

The prison PRO also responded to circulating rumours of maltreatment concerning the controversial televangelist.

Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh