TL;DR
- Hadush Kebatu, a migrant convicted of sexual offences, has been deported to Ethiopia after being mistakenly released from prison.
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood expressed relief over Kebatu’s deportation, citing public safety concerns following a manhunt for his capture.
- An independent inquiry is underway, and new safeguards for prisoner releases are being implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Hadush Kebatu: Migrant sex offender deported after mistaken prison release | Politics News
Migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu has been deported to Ethiopia following his mistaken release from prison.
Footage captured from Heathrow Airport showed the moment he was escorted on to a plane on Tuesday night.
The government says he has no right to return to the UK.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she “pulled every lever” to deport Kebatu.
“I am pleased to confirm this vile child sex offender has been deported. Our streets are safer because of it,” she said.
Kebatu was found and arrested by the Metropolitan Police in the Finsbury Park area of north London at around 8.30am on Sunday following a manhunt.
Last month, he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl and a woman in Epping, Essex, just over a week after arriving in the UK on a small boat.
He was expected to be deported, but instead of being handed over to immigration officials he was released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.
He spent just under 48 hours at large before he was apprehended.
The accidental release sparked widespread alarm and questions over how a man whose crimes sparked protests in Epping over the use of asylum hotels was able to be freed.
Ms Mahmood said: “Last week’s blunder should never have happened – and I share the public’s anger that it did.”
On Sunday, Justice Secretary David Lammy said an exclusive Sky News interview will be used as part of an independent inquiry into the mistaken release.
Speaking to Sky’s national correspondent Tom Parmenter, a delivery driver who spoke to Kebatu at HMP Chelmsford described him as being “confused” as he was being guided to the railway station by prison staff.
The migrant is said to have returned to the prison reception four or five times before leaving the area on a train heading to London.
Mr Lammy, who put Kebatu’s release down to human error, said he ordered an “urgent review” into the checks that take place when an offender is released from prison, and new safeguards have been added that amount to the “strongest release checks that have ever been in place”.
From Monday, new checks include five pages of instructions and demands that more senior prison staff sign off on a release, according to documents obtained by Sky News.
“I have been clear from the outset that a mistake of this nature is unacceptable, and we must get to the bottom of what happened,” said Mr Lammy.
