Hadush Kebatu was arrested on Sunday following a two-day manhunt after he was wrongly released from HMP Chelmsford instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre
Justice Secretary David Lammy has ordered an independent probe into how a failed asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl was mistakenly freed from jail.
Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu was arrested on Sunday following a two-day manhunt after he was wrongly released from HMP Chelmsford instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.
Mr Lammy told MPs that Kebatu would be deported back to Ethiopia imminently. But he said: “This has not changed the fact that Mr Kebatu’s victims are rightly outraged about what has happened, and I am livid on their behalf and on behalf of the public.
“This was a mistake which should not have happened. The victims expect better. The public expects better, and this Government expects better from a critical public service which plays a vital role in our first duty to keep the British people safe and from harm.”
Kebatu was released due to “human error”, Mr Lammy said. But he warned there must be accountability for the blunder.
He told MPs: “I’ve been clear from the outset that a mistake of this nature is unacceptable. We must get to the bottom of what happened and take immediate action to try and prevent similar releases in error to protect the public from harm.”
The Justice Secretary said he had tasked Dame Lynn Owens, a former deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, with investigating how he was mistakenly released.
Beefed up checks would imposed on all prisoner releases after an urgent review of processes by the boss of His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).
There will now be more senior oversight on ensuring checks are correctly applied, including a clear checklist for governors to determine that every step has been followed the evening before any release takes place.
Any foreign nationals being deported will now only be released with a duty governor present – and removals from HMP Chelmsford have been suspended this week.
Mistaken releases have been rising year on year since 2021 – going from nine per month on average in 2023, to 17 per month in the period spanning January to June 2024, the Justice Secretary told MPs.
In fiery scenes, Mr Lammy clashed with his Tory opponent Robert Jenrick, accusing the Conservatives of leaving a crumbling justice system. He said prisons have been left reeling by swingeing cuts, with funding slashed by 24% between 2010 and 2015, and 30% cuts to staff.
Mr Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said the scenes from the weekend were an “absolute farce”, adding: “There’s no point coming to the House professing to be living at the consequences of your own policies.”
A furious Mr Lammy said he had a “brass neck” for failing to take the blame for the mess the Tories made of the justice system.