Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy of the United Kingdom is expected to face tough questioning in the House of Commons today following the mistaken release of an asylum seeker convicted of sexual assault.
Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu, who was sentenced to 12 months in prison in September for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being transferred to an immigration detention centre.
The offender, who had been staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, at the time of the assault, travelled from Chelmsford to London after his release and was later rearrested on Sunday morning in Finsbury Park.
The victim’s father said that Kebatu had been recaptured, he hoped the sex offender would be “deported immediately.”
Sky News understands that this could happen as soon as tomorrow.
He expressed deep frustration, saying his family felt “massively let down and infuriated” by the blunder, adding that “the police, the justice system and the Labour government had all failed.”
Mr Lammy, who also serves as Justice Secretary, is expected to announce in Parliament this afternoon the launch of an independent inquiry into the incident and outline its scope.
He confirmed that one of the key aspects of the inquiry would include an exclusive Sky News interview with a delivery driver who encountered Kebatu at HMP Chelmsford.
The driver described Kebatu as appearing “confused” and reportedly saw him return to the prison reception “four or five times before leaving the area on a train.”
The incident has sparked widespread political backlash. Chelmsford’s Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman demanded a “rapid” national inquiry, calling the episode unacceptable.
“It’s unacceptable that the safety of my constituents, and the people of London, was ever put at risk,” she said. “The prison service had several chances to fix it and failed. The government has serious questions to answer and major work to do to make the system fit for purpose. It certainly isn’t at the moment.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp condemned the error, saying he remains “shocked that this inept Labour government let him out in the first place.”
Meanwhile, Zia Yusuf, head of policy for Reform UK, told Sky News, “It’s absolutely shocking and how any victim of sexual assault could look at this Labour government and Jess Phillips in particular, and the whole state apparatus right now, and have any degree of confidence is beyond me.”
A prison officer has since been suspended pending an internal investigation.
It is understood that Kebatu, who crossed the Channel in a small boat to enter the UK on 29 June, left prison with some personal funds but was not given a discharge grant to cover subsistence costs.
He was convicted of making inappropriate comments to a 14-year-old girl before attempting to kiss her on 7 July — just eight days after arriving in the country.
Kebatu was found guilty of five offences, and during sentencing, the court heard it was his “firm wish” to be deported.
The case sparked protests and counter-protests in Epping and outside several hotels housing asylum seekers across the country.
