Convicted sex offender and asylum seeker mistakenly released from prison arrested in London
An asylum seeker and convicted sex offender whose crimes sparked protests outside migrant hotels across the country has been arrested after being mistakenly released from prison.
Hadush Kebatu was arrested in the Finsbury Park area of north London on Sunday morning, three days into a manhunt led by the Metropolitan Police with help from Essex Police.
The Ethiopian national was jailed for 12 months in September for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl and was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.
Kebatu, who was understood to have crossed the English Channel in a small boat to enter the UK on June 29, had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, when he assaulted the girl, before taking a train to London.
His trial also heard that a day later, he sexually assaulted a woman by trying to kiss her, putting his hand on her leg and telling her she was pretty.
Kebatu’s crime led to protesters and counter-protesters taking to the streets in Epping, Essex, and eventually outside hotels housing asylum seekers across the country.
A prison officer has been taken off duties to discharge prisoners while an investigation takes place.
Head of Investigations
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