A migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison has been deported from the UK, the government has announced.
Hadush Kebatu was jailed after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Essex while living in an asylum hotel, but was mistakenly set free by prison staff on Friday. He was brought back into custody following a two-day manhunt.
He was removed on a flight to Ethiopia on Tuesday night and landed the following morning, the Home Office said.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Last week’s blunder should never have happened – and I share the public’s anger that it did.”
“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,” she added.
Kebatu was deported with no right to return, the Home Office said.
He was meant be taken from HMP Chelmsford to an immigration detention centre to be deported under an early removals scheme (ERS) for foreign national offenders on Friday.
Instead, he was released in what Justice Secretary David Lammy previously described as apparent “human error”.
By the time Essex Police were made aware of the situation shortly before 13:00 BST, he had approached members of the public in the city centre for assistance and boarded a train to London.
He was arrested in north London on Sunday morning after a member of the public contacted the police to say they may have spotted him near Finsbury Park station.
After Kebatu’s deportation, Home Office Minister Alex Norris told BBC Breakfast the situation had “ended in the way it had to end”.
“We accept this was a blunder – we’re really angry about it as I know the public are.”
He said “immediate controls” had been put in place in prisons to avoid a repeat of the incident – including more “stringent” checks when offenders leave prisons for deportation – and that an independent inquiry would identify lessons learned.
The independent investigation will seek to establish how Kebatu was set free and whether staff had sufficient experience, training and technology.
The inquiry chair, former Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Dame Lynne Owens, will also speak to Kebatu’s victims and make recommendations to prevent further mistaken releases, which have risen in recent years.
An urgent review has been ordered into the checks that take place when someone is released from prison. Meanwhile, a prison officer has been suspended and no removals from HMP Chelmsford under the ERS will take place this week.
Kebatu arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel on a small boat on 29 June, having travelled through Sudan, Libya, Italy and France.
His arrest in July sparked a wave of protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, which was being used to accommodate asylum seekers including Kebatu.
Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard Kebatu tried to kiss a teenage girl in the town centre, and made sexually explicit comments to her.
The following day, he encountered the same girl and tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her and another woman.
He denied the charges against him but was found guilty of five offences and sentenced to 12 months in custody, including the time he had already time in jail awaiting his trial.
Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made when a foreign national receives a custodial sentence of at least 12 months.
