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Deportation

Fugitive Child Sex Offender Released from Prison Due to "Human Error"

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

A child sex offender was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford and spent 90 minutes asking prison staff for directions before being sent to a train station, a witness said. Hadush Kebatu, 41, was staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, when he committed a string of sex offenses, including attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. Kebatu was sentenced to a year in prison and was due to be deported, but was instead released with his belongings and a payment of £76. The Ministry of Justice blamed "human error" and suspended a prison officer pending a full investigation.

Key Takeaways:

  • Hadush Kebatu, a 41-year-old child sex offender, was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford and spent 90 minutes asking prison staff for directions before being sent to a train station.
  • Kebatu was sentenced to a year in prison and was due to be deported, but was instead released with his belongings and a payment of £76.
  • The Ministry of Justice blamed "human error" and suspended a prison officer pending a full investigation.
  • Kebatu was filmed in a grey prison-issue tracksuit asking directions from members of the public after being released from the prison.
  • Scotland Yard took over the investigation after Essex police and the British Transport Police established that Kebatu had traveled to London by train.
  • Far-right influencers seized on his disappearance, with Ant Middleton posting on social media that he had "intel from a trusted and reliable source on the ground in Chelmsford" that Kebatu had traveled to London.
  • The loss of such a high-profile prisoner set for deportation on serious offenses has created a nightmare scenario for the government.
  • A report from His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service said 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the previous 12 months.
  • Justice Secretary David Lammy called the incident "appalling" and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the blunder was "totally unacceptable."
  • Ian Lawrence, general secretary of Napo, the probation officers' union, said: "There's massive, massive pressure in terms of the amount of traffic going in and out of the prison gates. I'm not surprised that mistakes like this happen, because of the sheer overload."
  • The Met Police said its officers had taken over the manhunt shortly after 11.30am yesterday and that Kebatu had taken a train to Stratford at 12.41pm on Friday.

Statistics:

  • 90 minutes: The amount of time Kebatu spent asking prison staff for directions before being sent to a train station.
  • £76: The payment Kebatu received upon his release from prison.
  • 262: The number of prisoners released in error in England and Wales between April 2024 and March 2025.
  • 115: The number of prisoners released in error in the previous 12 months.
  • 2024-2025: The time period during which 262 prisoners were released in error.
  • 2025: The end of the time period during which the report from His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service was released.

Sources:

  • Sky News
  • Scotland Yard
  • The Ministry of Justice
  • His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service
  • The Met Police
  • The Guardian
  • Alamy
  • Henry Nicholls/ AFP/Getty

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