Ethiopian sex offender, released by ‘mistake’ from Essex jail, arrested in London after three-day manhunt

The London police has arrested a convicted asylum seeker who was mistakenly released from jail earlier this week, officials said on Sunday.

Hadush Kebatu, a migrant sex offender, who was freed from prison by mistake on Friday was again arrested from north London on Sunday after a near-three-day manhunt, police 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,” Commander James Conway, who was in charge of overseeing the operation, said in a statement on Sunday.

The Metropolitan Police said that the Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was arrested in the Finsbury Park area.

“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,” Conway said in his statement.

Why was Hadush Kebatu released from prison?

Hadush Kebatu, 38, was released by mistake at a prison in Chelmsford, Essex, with authorities claiming that they were alerted Friday afternoon about the blunder.

The incident led to an embarrassment to the government, with a manhunt launched for the sex offender who was reportedly “last seen in the London area,” as per the Essex Police on Saturday.

He was last seen catching a train in Essex, after which the police nabbed him.

British media said that Kebatu was wrongly put on the list of prisoners to be released, instead of being sent to a deportation centre.

UK's Justice Secretary had expressed his displeasure over the situation, saying that he was “livid on behalf of the public that Kebatu is at large,” according to a report by BBC.

Kebatu came to national attention after his case triggered a wave of anti-migrant protests in London and other cities in recent months.

He was sentenced in September to 12 months in prison for five offenses, including the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in July in Epping, on the outskirts of London, just over a week after he had arrived in England by boat.

He was also accused of sexually assaulting another woman.

“Officers worked throughout the night to track his movements, including scouring hours of CCTV footage, and this work continues today,” a police statement on Saturday had said.

The Prison Service also launched a separate probe into the incident, and a prison officer has been suspended from discharging duties till the investigation continues.

Hadush Kebatu's crimes triggered angry summer-long protests outside the hotel where he was living in Essex, east of London. These events also helped set off other demonstrations amid rising tensions in Britain over immigration.