London police in the United Kingdom have rearrested a convicted sex offender and asylum-seeker who was mistakenly released from prison in an embarrassing blunder for the British government.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was apprehended in the Finsbury Park area of north London and will be handed back to the Prison Service.
Kebatu, 38, had earlier made national headlines after his arrest this year for sexually assaulting a teenage girl, a case that fueled angry anti-migrant protests across London and several other cities.
Authorities revealed that they were alerted on Friday afternoon that Kebatu had been wrongfully released from Chelmsford Prison in Essex.
He was later spotted boarding a train bound for London.
According to reports, the mistake occurred because he was incorrectly classified as a prisoner due for release rather than one who should have been transferred to an immigration detention center.
A screenshot from bodycam footage showed Kebatu seated in the passenger side of a police car during his arrest.
Kebatu had been 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. The attack occurred just over a week after he arrived in the U.K. by boat.
His case sparked large demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, where Kebatu and other newly arrived migrants were being housed.
The protests, some of which were attended by far-right activists, spread to other towns and cities, occasionally descending into unrest. Meanwhile, anti-racism campaigners under the Stand Up to Racism banner held counterprotests in response.
The Prison Service has launched an investigation into the blunder, and one prison officer has been suspended pending the outcome.
Government officials have described the incident as an “egregious failure.” The Ministry of Justice has also begun an internal inquiry to determine how the error occurred and who was responsible.
“This man was behind bars because of serious sex offenses,” Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News on Sunday. “He is not meant to be in this country. In fact, what was supposed to be happening is he was meant to be transferred for deportation. So the idea that he’s loose on our streets is incredibly serious. It is a serious failure.”
The blunder comes amid growing political tension over unauthorized migration, particularly the thousands of asylum-seekers crossing the English Channel in small boats to reach the U.K.
The government’s controversial policy of using hotels to house migrants awaiting asylum decisions has drawn mounting criticism from both the public and opposition parties.
