Migrant Re-Arrested After Being Wrongly Released From Prison

Police in London have re-arrested Hadush Kebatu, a migrant who was mistakenly released from prison, after a two-day manhunt.

He was found in the Finsbury Park area on Sunday morning, two days after being released in error from HMP Chelmsford, where he was supposed to be transferred for deportation.

Kebatu had been sentenced to 12 months in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, where he was living in an asylum hotel.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that he has been taken back into custody.

Justice Secretary David Lammy has ordered an independent investigation into the mistaken release, while the Prison Service has introduced new security and verification measures before any inmate is discharged.

According to the Prison and Probation Service, 262 inmates were wrongly released between April 2024 and March 2025 — more than double the number recorded the previous year.