The government has urgently called on the public to assist in locating a migrant convicted of a sex crime who was mistakenly released from prison. This plea comes as authorities scramble to regain custody of the individual.
Hadush Kebatu was inadvertently freed from HMP Chelmsford last Friday, merely a month after being sentenced for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman in Epping, Essex. The assaults took place while he was residing in an asylum seeker hotel.
The 38-year-old Ethiopian national, whose crimes ignited protests at The Bell Hotel in Epping and elsewhere across the nation, was supposed to be transferred to an immigration detention facility in preparation for deportation. However, due to a grave error by prison personnel, he was released instead.
Adding to the controversy, reports revealed that prison officials escorted Kebatu towards a train station, and he even attempted to return to the prison voluntarily but was denied re-entry.
After his release, Kebatu was captured on video speaking with members of the public in Chelmsford before catching a 12:41 p.m. train bound for London Liverpool Street.
The Metropolitan Police have since distributed CCTV footage showing Kebatu in the Dalston area of Hackney around 8 p.m. that same day. Earlier, he was seen on another camera at a library in Dalston Square, wearing a grey prison tracksuit and carrying a distinctive white tote bag adorned with avocado images.
As the hunt descends deeper into farce, Wes Streeting today begged for the public’s help in finding the wrongly released sex attacker.
Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the health secretary said the government is ‘turning over every stone’ to find Kebatu and that there is an ‘intensive manhunt’ underway.
As the hunt descends deeper into farce, Wes Streeting (pictured) today begged for the public’s help in finding the wrongly released sex attacker
A CCTV image issued by the Metropolitan Police (pictured) shows Hadush Kebatu in Dalston, London, on Saturday night
The sex offender (pictured) was accidentally freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning by bungling staff after serving just a month of his 12-month sentence for preying on a schoolgirl
‘He [Kebatu] was last spotted in east London and so I would appeal to people watching to look at the images of this man to make sure that we’re all vigilant and if he’s sighted to dial 999 immediately.
‘We want him found, arrested and deported.’
He added: ‘This man was behind bars because of serious sex offences. He is not meant to be in this country. In fact, what what was supposed to be happening is he was meant to be transferred for deportation.
‘So, the idea that he’s loose on our streets is incredibly serious. It is a serious failure.’
The cabinet minister admitted that the mistaken release shows something has gone ‘spectacularly wrong’.
He added: ‘I feel as angry as people watching this morning. You cannot fathom how on earth this has happened. We don’t want to prejudge the investigation. We will get to the bottom of exactly what’s gone wrong.
‘Every single day, there are millions of people working across the public sector doing a great job. And when something like this goes spectacularly wrong, we need to work out how.’
It comes after it emerged that prison officers told Kebatu he had to make it to the removal centre on his own steam.
A delivery driver told Sky News: ‘I heard one of the officers saying, ‘This is how you get to the station, you go down here…’ [he] directed him to the station and said he had to get on a train to get to this place… This conversation was at the front of the prison.’
In what caused further disbelief last night, Kebatu spent more than 90 minutes hanging around outside the prison because he simply did not know ‘where to go or what to do’.
The driver, who was delivering equipment to the prison, said: ‘[The officers] were basically sending him away, saying, ‘Go, you’ve been released, you go’.’
Video footage (above) appeared to capture Kebatu in Chelmsford town centre asking for directions from locals
The debacle has left Labour facing fresh questions about its handling of the migrant crisis.
It comes amid a backlash against efforts to tackle illegal migration after a man who was deported under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme with France reappeared on UK shores having crossed the Channel again in a small boat.
Tory MP for Epping Forest, Neil Hudson, called Kebatu’s release a ‘catastrophic mistake’ which had ‘deeply distressed, upset and angered’ the whole community, adding that ‘accountability must go right to the top’.
Even after being set free, Kebatu kept going ‘back and forth’ into the prison reception area seeking help and showing staff a wad of paperwork about his case, according to the driver.
‘I’m not sticking up for the guy but in my eyes he wanted to do the right thing and go to the right place,’ he said.
‘He knew he was getting deported but he didn’t know where to go or how he should get there. He kept scratching his head and saying, ‘Where do I go, where do I go?”
He added that the officers had no interest in helping him, saying, ‘You’re released, you’re released’.
Kebatu was jailed for a year last month after assaulting his 14-year-old victim. During his trial, Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard that he acted ‘ignorantly and repulsively’.
The migrant became aroused as he put his hand on the girl’s thighs and stroked her hair despite knowing ‘full well she was only 14’. He said he wanted to have a baby with her and invited her back to The Bell Hotel, where he was living.
Kebatu then tried to kiss a woman who attempted to intervene, before putting his hand on her leg and telling her she was pretty.
The asylum seeker gave his age as 38 during a court appearance but a judge said he had seen information indicating he was 41.
Met Police Commander James Conway urged Kebatu to give himself up, saying: ‘We want to locate you in a safe and controlled way. You had already indicated a desire to return to Ethiopia when speaking to immigration staff. The best outcome for you is to make contact directly with us.’
He said the asylum seeker had taken ‘a number of journeys’ across London since his release on Friday and had ‘access to funds’.
