LONDON– London police said Sunday they arrested a convicted sex offender and asylum seeker who was mistakenly released from prison in a blunder that has embarrassed the government.
The Metropolitan Police said Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was arrested in the Finsbury Park area of north London. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would be deported as soon as possible.
Before being mistakenly released, Kebatu had already made national news because his arrest earlier this year for the sexual assault of a teenage girl sparked a Wave of angry anti-immigrant protests. in London and other cities.
Authorities said they were alerted on Friday afternoon that Kebatu was mistakenly released from a prison in Chelmsford, Essex, and was seen taking a London-bound train there. British media reported that he was wrongly categorized as a prisoner about to be released, rather than being sent to an immigration detention center.
The migrant was sentenced in September to 12 months in prison for five offences, including the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in July in Epping, outside London, just over a week after arriving in England by boat.
Thousands of people protested in front of the Bell Hotel in Eppingnortheast of London, where he was staying with other recently arrived immigrants. Multiple protests against other hotels hosting migrants in British cities and towns followed, with some demonstrations attended by far-right activists descending into disorder.
The group Stand Up to Racism also participated in counter protests.
The Prison Service said prison officers have been removed from carrying out their duties while an investigation is carried out.
Government officials have described the erroneous release as an “egregious failure.” Justice Secretary David Lammy said he had ordered prisoner release controls to be immediately tightened and that an investigation would find out what went wrong and who was responsible.
“This man was behind bars for serious sexual offences,” Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News on Sunday before Kebatu’s arrest. “He’s not meant to be in this country. In fact, what was supposed to be happening is that he was supposed to be transferred for deportation. So the idea that he’s loose on our streets is incredibly serious. It’s a serious failure.”
the question of unauthorized migration — especially the tens of thousands of migrants crossing the English Channel on overloaded ships to reach the United Kingdom — has risen to the top of the political agenda in Britain.
According to the figures, more than 36,900 people have made the dangerous crossing from France to the United Kingdom so far this year, exceeding the total number recorded in all of 2024. Efforts of the authorities In Britain, France and other countries, cracking down on people-smuggling gangs or deterring migrants from coming has so far been unsuccessful.
He The government’s policy of using hotels to house immigrants. awaiting a decision on their asylum status has also come under heavy criticism.
—