Migrant sex offender arrested after being released from prison in error
Hadush Kebatu was arrested by police in Finsbury Park in north London two days after he was released from HMP Chelmsford, Essex, in error
- Published
A migrant who was mistakenly released from prison has been arrested in north London following a manhunt, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Hadush Kebatu was found in the Finsbury Park area at 08:30 GMT on Sunday, two days after being let go in error from HMP Chelmsford.
He was arrested on suspicion of being unlawfully at large.
The Met Police said Kebatu "will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service", though Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would immediately be deported.
Kebatu, who was sentenced last month for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping while living in an asylum hotel, was due to be deported when he was mistakenly set free by prison staff.
Sir Keir Starmer said Kebatu would be deported and said an investigation into the release was under way, adding: "We must make sure this doesn't happen again."
One eyewitness told BBC News he was walking his dog in Finsbury Park when he spotted Kebatu being led away by a number of officers.
He continued: "I saw police officers with a man that looked like the one who had been released... It's a baffling situation to have a high-profile case of a man who was just let out and was nearby."
The Met said a member of the public tipped off police that they had spotted a man they believed could be Kebatu at a bus stop near Finsbury Park station at 08:03 on Sunday morning.
Officers were sent to the area and found him 16 minutes later.
Kebatu was seen being led away in handcuffs by police wearing different clothes to the prison-issue grey tracksuit he had last been spotted in on Friday evening.
Hadush Kebatu posed a "significant risk of reoffending", the judge said during sentencing
Essex Police were first made aware that Kebatu had been released in error on Friday at 12:57 on Friday but Kebatu had already boarded a train to east London 16 minutes earlier.
Kebatu was also was filmed in Chelmsford city centre speaking to members of the public shortly after he was released, and police confirmed he approached several people seeking assistance.
The Met Police also established that Kebatu made a number of train journeys across the capital.
Officers issued CCTV images of Kebatu at a library in the Dalston area on Friday evening. He was still wearing a prison-issue grey tracksuit and carrying a white bag with pictures of avocados on it.
Kebatu was picked up on CCTV inside a library in Dalston Square
Kebatu's arrest in July sparked protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, where he had been living since arriving in the UK on a small boat.
In September, Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard Kebatu tried to kiss a teenage girl on a bench and made numerous sexually explicit comments.
The following day, he encountered the same girl and tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her. He also sexually assaulted a woman who had offered to help him draft a CV to find work.
Kebatu gave his age as 38 during a court appearance, but a judge said he had been seen information indicating he was 41.
He denied the charges against him but was found guilty of five offences last month and sentenced to 12 months in custody, including the time he had already time in jail awaiting his trial. In total, he spent 108 days in prison.
Kebatu was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order, which banned him from approaching or contacting any female, and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
During his trial, the court heard it was Kebatu's "firm wish" to be deported. Under the UK Borders Act 2007, external, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and has received a custodial sentence of at least 12 months.
Watch: 'Huge relief' that Kebatu has been arrested says Streeting
HM Prison Service has instructed governors in England and Wales to implement additional checks before inmates are released by Monday.
A prison officer has been suspended pending investigation but a senior prison staffer told BBC News the release was "down to a series of mistakes probably because staff are overworked and in short supply".
They continued: "It's not just one prison office who's to blame. That would be unfair."
A report from His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service said 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the previous 12 months.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC the arrest was a "huge relief" and said Kebatu will "now be deported".
He continued: "The justice secretary has ordered an investigation into how on earth it was that a dangerous man who was due for deportation was instead released onto our streets.
"That work is under way, we will be open and transparent with the public about what went wrong and what we're going to do about it."
He had earlier said the Prison Service was under enormous pressure "but even against that backdrop it doesn't explain or excuse the release of people on our streets who have no business being there".
Former Conservative Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said an inquiry was necessary in order "to learn lessons", and suggested the incident was symptomatic of wider problems with the prison system.
He told BBC Breakfast: "The entire annual budget of the Ministry of Justice is spent by the Department for Work and Pensions in two weeks.
"My constant plea is to try to ensure the prison service gets the resources it requires to ensure we are recruiting and retaining people with skills and experience to make sure these problems don't happen."
The Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford, Marie Goldman, said Kebatu "must now be deported" and also pushed for a national inquiry.
Earlier, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the incident showed that the UK's "once-trusted institutions", including the police and prisons, were "disintegrating before our eyes".