Hadush Kebatu was jailed for 12 months in September for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl and was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre
David Lammy is set to face a grilling in Parliament after an asylum seeker, who is a convicted sex offender, was mistakenly released from prison instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.
Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was sentenced to 12 months in September for sexually assaulting a 14 year old girl and was wrongly let out from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning.
Kebatu, who resided at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, when he committed the assault, travelled from Chelmsford to London and was apprehended on Sunday morning in Finsbury Park.
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The father of Kebatu’s teenage victim expressed his hope that the sex offender will be “deported immediately” – a sentiment echoed by the Justice Secretary who said this should occur in the coming week.
Mr Lammy assured broadcasters on Sunday afternoon that Kebatu needs to be interrogated by police before he is deported, stating: “I can assure you that he will be deported as he was expected to be deported.
“I expect that to happen this week.”
He also announced plans for an independent inquiry into the incident, which he will reveal in Parliament on Monday, adding: “This man should have been basically in line to be deported and should not have been released into the community, that should not have happened.”
The blunder has drawn heavy criticism from opposition politicians. Following Kebatu’s arrest, Chelmsford’s Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman demanded a “rapid” national inquiry into the error that allowed him to walk free.
“It’s unacceptable that the safety of my constituents, and the people of London, was ever put at risk,” she expressed. The prison service had several chances to fix it and failed.
“The Government has serious questions to answer and major work to do to make the system fit for purpose. It certainly isn’t at the moment.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp voiced his shock, stating: “I remain shocked that this inept Labour Government let him out in the first place”.
The Tory MP for Croydon South told GB News: “They should never have allowed his release and I think David Lammy and Shabana Mahmood have questions to answer because they have presided over this system.
Zia Yusuf, head of policy for Reform UK, told Sky News: “It’s absolutely shocking and how any victim of sexual assault could look at this Labour Government and Jess Phillips in particular, and the whole state apparatus right now, and have any degree of confidence is beyond me.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed an investigation has been ordered to establish what went wrong, adding: “We must make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“A prison officer has been suspended while an investigation takes place.It is understood Kebatu, who crossed the Channel in a small boat to enter the UK on 29 June, left prison with some personal money but was not given a discharge grant to cover subsistence costs.
He was found guilty of making inappropriate comments to a 14 year old girl and attempting to kiss her on 7 July, just eight days after he arrived in the country on a small boat. The court also heard that the following day, he sexually assaulted a woman by trying to kiss her, placing his hand on her leg and complimenting her appearance.
The woman later dialled 999 after she saw him behaving inappropriately towards the same teenage girl, who he had previously sexually assaulted while she was in her school uniform.
After a three-day trial at Chelmsford and Colchester Magistrates’ Courts in September, the migrant was convicted of five offences. During his sentencing hearing, it was revealed that he expressed a “firm wish” to be deported.
In court, Kebatu provided his date of birth through a translator as December 1986, which would make him 38 years old. However, Essex Police have stated their records show his birth date as December 1983, making him 41.
Kebatu’s crime sparked protests and counter-protests in Epping, eventually leading to demonstrations outside hotels accommodating asylum seekers nationwide.