The migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison has been arrested. The Metropolitan Police confirmed that Hadush Kebatu, 41, was arrested in the Finsbury Park area at around 8.30am on Sunday morning (October 26).
A manhunt was launched after his accidental release from HMP Chelmsford, Essex, on Friday morning. A witness said Kebatu seemed “confused” following his release while prison staff told him: “Go, you’ve been released. Go.”
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.”
After being wrongly released from Chelmsford Prison on Friday, Kebatu reportedly tried to “four or five times” to return to prison. A witness said he seemed “confused” and repeatedly asked: “Where am I going?”
A man, called Sim, was delivering equipment to the prison when he met Kebatu. The migrant approached him and asked him where he should go.
According to Sim, Kebatu was loitering outside the prison for around an hour and a half to find out where he should go. After repeatedly asking prison staff where he should go, they said to him: “Go, you’ve been released, you go.”
Kebatu was pictured in a library in east London (Image: PA)
Sim added: “He kept scratching his head and saying: ‘Where do I go, where do I go?’ The fourth or fifth time (he went into the reception), he was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed.
“I’m not sticking up for the guy, but in my eyes, he was trying to do the right thing. He knew he was getting deported, but he didn’t know where he was going or how he should get there.”
Kebatu then boarded a train to Stratford, east London, before heading to London Liverpool Street. A manhunt was launched by the Met Police shortly after, with investigating officers releasing pictures of the migrant in the Dalston area of Hackney.
Kebatu was caught in a public library wearing his prison-issue grey tracksuit top and bottoms. He was also carrying a “distinctive white bag with pictures of avocados on it.”
The search continued for him until his eventual arrest on Sunday morning (October 26). Police thanked the public for their help in tracking him down.
Kebatu has been arrested (Image: Essex Police/AFP via Getty Image)
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, condemned his wrongful release as a “horrendous episode”. He added: “This man is a dangerous child sex predator and now he is on the loose thanks to Labour’s incompetence.
“The fact is he shouldn’t even be here at all. I think all illegal immigrants should be deported within a week of arrival, and we should leave the ECHR to enable that. But Labour is too weak to do that.”
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage said the situation showed that “Britain is broken”. He added that our “once-trusted institutions”, including the NHS and the police force, are “disintegrating before our eyes”.
Writing for the Mail Online, the Reform UK leader said: “This shocking case shouts loud and clear that the prison service is yet another example of Broken Britain.
“And I believe there is an even bigger issue. Why was Kebatu ever able to enter Britain, roam the streets and commit his crime in the first place?
“The truth is that all our once-trusted institutions, from the NHS to the police and now our prisons, are disintegrating before our eyes. Across the sector, we see badly-led men and women who no longer seem certain what they are expected to do.”
