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A double rape suspect who remains on the run may have been released early from prison by mistake, it has emerged.

The Ministry of Justice have launched an urgent review into the release of Joseph McCann.

The BBC reports that a decision on his release from prison should have been made by the Parole Board because he was on life licence, as part an indeterminate sentence, but instead he was automatically released.

It is understood he was released on licence from prison in February 2017 for an aggravated burglary.

He was released later that year however went on to re-offend and be imprisoned once again for theft.

Due to the terms of his life licence McCann should have had to convince the Parole Board he was not a threat to the public.

Instead, he was able to leave prison half way through his sentence on licence.

A £20,000 reward was offered yesterday for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of McCann.

The 34-year-old is accused of separately snatching two women in their 20s in north London on Thursday.

He is also suspected of snatching a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint in Watford in the early hours of April 21 and raping her, Hertfordshire Police said.

Police have warned that McCann is "extremely dangerous", known to use false names and may be using a disguise.

He is described as being muscular, about 5ft 10in, and having a "distinctive" tattoo of the name "bobbie" on his stomach.

He is said to have blue eyes, a bald head or shaved blond hair with a light-coloured beard, and a "slight" Irish accent.

Officers said he had recently gone by the name of Joel and has links to Watford, north-west London, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and Ipswich in Suffolk.

(Image: PA)

The women abducted in London were raped after being snatched by a man in a silver or grey-coloured Ford S-Max people carrier with false registration plates.

The first woman was abducted at about 12.30am on Thursday from a street in Chingford, before the second was seized around 12 hours later at 12.15pm from a street in Edgware.

One of the women may have been pregnant, The Times reported.

They were driven to a hotel where the man attempted to book a room at around 1pm. They left when this was unavailable.

But the women managed to escape in Osborne Road, Watford, at about 2.30pm.

They were both "traumatised" by the ordeal and were receiving support from specialist officers, police said.

The incident is being linked to another attack earlier in the week, which is being investigated by Hertfordshire Police.

The force said a woman was approached at around 3.30am on April 21 in Hagden Lane, Watford, driven around for six hours in a blue Ford Mondeo and then raped.

The ordeal was reported to police the following day.