Convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu has arrived in Ethiopia after being deported from the UK with no right to return, the Home Office has confirmed.
The Ethiopian national was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre – sparking a two-day police manhunt.
The migrant, who had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, when he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman, travelled to London and was arrested on Sunday morning in the Finsbury Park area.
He was deported to Ethiopia on Tuesday night, arriving on Wednesday morning.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Last week’s blunder should never have happened – and I share the public’s anger that it did. I would like to thank the police for rapidly bringing Mr Kebatu into custody and the public for their vigilance.
“I have pulled every lever to deport Mr Kebatu and remove him off British soil. I am pleased to confirm this vile child sex offender has been deported. Our streets are safer because of it.
“If you come to this country and commit crimes, we will remove you.”
The incident has prompted an independent inquiry to find out what went wrong and a prison officer has been suspended while the probe is carried out.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said the incident was “unacceptable”, adding: “We must get to the bottom of what happened.”
Former Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Dame Lynne Owens will chair an independent probe into the release and will speak to the victims in the case about how the incident impacted on them, Lammy told MPs on Monday.
He added: “Her report will highlight points of failure and make recommendations to help prevent further releases in error, which 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.
“And I’m clear that a single release in error is one too many, which is why we have launched this independent investigation.”
Lammy added: “We have introduced the strictest checks ever seen in our prison system to stop similar unacceptable errors in future.”
Hadush Kebatu’s wrongful release from HMP Chelmsford has been “hugely damaging to public trust” and people deserve a “full answer” as to how the blunder happened, the local MP has said.
Liberal Democrat Chelmsford MP Marie Goldman said she is “relieved that this saga is over” but “this doesn’t excuse the catastrophic failures that led to this point”.
“It is utterly unacceptable that public safety was put at risk. This was a grave mistake, and my constituents now deserve a full answer as to how such a serious failure was allowed to happen,” she added.
His case has renewed scrutiny of prison procedures after a series of mistaken releases across the country. Prison Officers’ Association national chairman Mark Fairhurst said more incidents have taken place in a week.
He said that over the last seven days, there have been two mistaken releases from HMP Pentonville, in north London, and others at HMP Durham, The Mount prison in Hertfordshire and from Reading Crown Court.
No prison officers have been suspended over the other five releases, he said.
The Ministry of Justice disputed the number of prisoners released in error but confirmed some took place in the last seven days.
One prisoner is still at large after being mistakenly freed, it is understood.
According to government figures published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025 – a 128% increase on 115 in the previous 12 months.
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