Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an asylum seeker who was Jailed for sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl has been mistakenly released from prison.
According to prison sources, the man who was jailed for 12 months over the attack in Epping, Essex, last monthwas meant to be sent to an immigration detention centre ahead of a planned deportation when the mix up occurred.
An investigation has been launched by the Prison Service and an officer has been removed from discharging duties while it takes place.
Kebatu’s arrest had sparked protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, where he had been living.
During a hearing in September at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, it was found Kebatu on 7 July tried to kiss the teenage girl on a bench and made numerous sexually explicit comments.
The following day on 8 July, he encountered the same girl and tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her. He also sexually assaulted a woman who had offered to help him create a CV to find work.
In September, after being found guilty of five offences he was sentenced to 12 months and given a five-year sexual harm prevention order, which banned him from approaching or contacting any female.
He was also made to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
Reactions to Accidental Release
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We are urgently working with police to return an offender to custody following a release in error at HMP Chelmsford.
“Public protection is our top priority and we have launched an investigation into this incident.”
Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was “appalled at the release in error at HMP Chelmsford”.
Writing in a post on X, Lammy said: “We are urgently working with the police to track him down and I’ve ordered an urgent investigation.
“Kebatu must be deported for his crimes, not on our streets.”
Chelmsford’s Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman called for a rapid public inquiry into how the mistaken release, which was first reported by the Sun, happened.
“This is utterly unacceptable and has potentially put my constituents in danger,” she said. “I expect answers from the Prison Service.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the “entire system is collapsing under Labour”.
“Conservatives voted against Labour’s prisoner release program because it was putting predators back on our streets,” she said on X.
“But this man has only just been convicted. A level of incompetence that beggars belief.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “He is now walking the streets of Essex. Britain is broken.”
