Hadush Kebatu, 38, was sentenced to 12 months in prison just weeks ago for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and woman in Essex – but was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday
A convicted sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison before fleeing to London has been caught and arrested.
Hadush Kebatu, 38, was sentenced to 12 months in jail just weeks ago for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and woman in Essex. The Ethiopian national was due to be deported, but was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday, triggering a major manhunt across the south east. Kebatu had been living in the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, when he carried out his crimes.
The 38-year-old was arrested in the Finsbury Park area of north London at around 8.30am, Scotland Yard said.
During his sentencing hearing last month, the judge said he posed a “significant risk of reoffending” and placed him under a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which banned him from approaching or contacting any female.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his release was “totally unacceptable” and that Kebatu “must be caught and deported for his crimes”. The Metropolitan Police had initially been assisting Essex Police in the hunt, but formally took over the case after it emerged there was a “high level of confidence” the asylum seeker was in London.
Justice Secretary David Lammy confirmed on Friday that Kebatu was “at large in London” after he was seen getting off a train at Stratford in east London at around 1:10pm that same day.
Last night, the Met Police released CCTV footage showing Kebatu inside a library as the force confirmed additional officers had been deployed to the area. Kebatu was seen just before 8pm in the Dalston area of Hackney and was also picked up on CCTV at a library in Dalston Square around two hours earlier wearing a prison-issue grey tracksuit and carrying a white bag with pictures of avocados on it.
Speaking about the asylum seeker’s arrest, Metropolitan Police Commander James Conway, who oversaw the operation to find Kebatu, said: “This has been a diligent and fast-paced investigation led by specialist officers from the Metropolitan Police, supported by Essex Police and the British Transport Police.
“Information from the public led officers to Finsbury Park and, following a search, they located Mr Kebatu. He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service. I am extremely grateful to the public for their support following our appeal, which assisted in locating Mr Kebatu.”