A gang member and drill rapper jailed for kidnapping and torturing a 16-year-old boy has walked free from prison as part of Labour’s early release scheme.
Isaac Donkoh, 28, who went by the street name ‘Young Dizz’, posted selfies from the back of a £140,000 Land Rover after regaining his freedom yesterday.
He was handed a 12-and-a-half-year sentence in April 2019 but got out along with 1,200 other inmates in a second wave of early releases under the Government’s policy to free up prison space.
The court heard on that occasion how Donkoh went to meet his schoolboy victim in Barking, east London, with four other youths on August 2, 2018.
After being punched and bundled into the dark blue Ford Mondeo, the boy was threatened with a machete and had two plastic bags put over his head.
He later told the court that at this point ‘I thought they were probably gonna kill me’.
The victim was driven to the home of one of Donkoh’s young accomplices, where he was held for around two hours and subjected to a violent and humiliating ordeal.
He was forced to strip naked as Donkoh filmed him on his iPhone and threatened to ‘cut him up’.
The victim was whacked over his face, back, legs and arms with a metal pole and some of his hair was chopped off with scissors.
The boy was forced to call his parents and beg for £1,500 to secure his release.
Detective Chief Inspector Jim McKee said at the time: ‘This was an extremely violent incident, which has had a profoundly distressing impact on the victim and his family.
‘Whilst the physical scars of that night have started to heal, I believe the psychological impact on the victim has been lasting.
Latest London news
To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro.co.uk’s London news hub.
‘Donkoh fronted drill music videos for his gang which goaded rivals and recruited boys as young as 14 to commit serious violence.
‘I believe that removing Donkoh from the streets of Newham has done a great deal to reduce serious violence in the borough.’
Donkoh was eligible due to the way his sentence was structured.
He had served half of his eight and nine-year terms for false imprisonment and kidnap, but still had two consecutive sentences to serve – one of three years for GBH and another of six months for perverting the course of justice.
However, prisoners serving sentences for violent offences are only excluded if they have been jailed for longer than four years.
Because his GBH sentence was only three years, he became eligible.
This meant his release date could be brought forward to October 22, rather than on November 4.
Within hours he posted a selfie on X posing in a £140,000 ‘Armoured Edition’ Land Rover with the caption: ‘Came home to an armoured truck, you can never be too careful’.
He also posted a video on TikTok with the same flash motor, telling his 12,000 followers: ‘Man’s looking different, I’m feeling this one still.’
Other users were shocked to find out he had been released.
One asked ‘how is this possible?’ while another wrote: ‘HOW???? Are they aware that you left??’
Another TikTok user took aim at the government for allowing so many criminals to be set free, writing: ‘The government is moving too loose they releasing all the villains for a final battle.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘The new Government inherited a prison system on the point of collapse.
‘It has been forced to introduce an emergency early release programme to avert a crisis that would have overwhelmed the criminal justice system, meaning we would no longer be able to lock up dangerous criminals and protect the public.
‘We will build the prison places to ensure serious offenders can always be punished in jail, while our Sentencing Review will bear down on reoffending, cut crime and make sure we are never again left on the brink of disaster.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE : Man ‘obsessed with co-worker shot her dead because she took long lunch breaks’
MORE : Pizzeria raided by police over best-selling order served with side of cocaine
MORE : Sara Sharif’s neighbour describes ‘constant screaming and crying’ from her home
Get your need-to-know
latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.