After a three-day manhunt, authorities have detained an Ethiopian sex offender who was mistakenly released from a British prison.
Hadush Kebatu, reportedly 38, was serving a 12-month prison sentence at HMP Chelmsford for sexual offences when he was wrongly released on Friday October 24th—after serving just one month—due to an administrative error.
Kebatu was meant to be deported from the United Kingdom, allegedly in line with his own requests, but officials reportedly confused him with another inmate.
A nationwide manhunt was launched involving dozens of detectives and three police forces, with reported public sightings ultimately leading to Kebatu’s arrest in Finsbury Park, London at 8.30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Convicted of several sex offences in Epping, Kebatu’s crimes sparked weeks of protests outside the Essex town’s Bell Hotel, which is used to house asylum seekers, including the Ethiopian, prior to his conviction. This latest incident—in which the erstwhile prisoner could be seen on CCTV ambling around Chelmsford and London still wearing his prison greys—triggered a major political backlash.
The Ministry of Justice described the farcical slow-motion jailbreak as a “terrible failure” and ordered an immediate investigation. Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary gormless David Lammy visited Wood Green police station in north London and called Kebatu’s premature release from prison “unacceptable.” (Estimates suggest that in the past year, 262 UK prisoners were let out accidentally.)
While technically the case has prompted concern about the failings of prison administration, it has also reignited debate over the UK’s immigration policy. In relation to events in Epping, the widespread public anger at broken borders comes from the belief that Kebatu should never have been in Britain in the first place.
