London police announced on Sunday that they have captured a convicted sex offender and asylum-seeker who was accidentally released from prison, a mistake that has caused major embarrassment for the government.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was apprehended in the Finsbury Park area of north London. Authorities said he has now been handed back to the Prison Service.
Kebatu had already made national headlines earlier this year when his arrest for sexually assaulting a teenage girl sparked widespread anti-migrant protests in London and several other cities.
Officials said they were notified on Friday afternoon that the 38-year-old had been mistakenly freed from a Chelmsford, Essex prison and was later spotted boarding a train to London. British media outlets reported that he was wrongly listed as an inmate eligible for release instead of being transferred to an immigration detention center.
In September, Kebatu received a 12-month prison sentence for five separate crimes, including the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in Epping, just outside London. The assault occurred barely a week after he had arrived in the U.K. by boat.
The incident triggered large-scale demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, where Kebatu and other newly arrived migrants were staying. Similar protests later spread to other towns and cities across Britain, with some turning chaotic as far-right activists joined in. At the same time, Stand Up to Racism organized counterprotests to oppose the anti-migrant rallies.
The Prison Service has launched an internal investigation into how the error occurred, and one prison officer has been suspended while the inquiry is underway.
Government representatives have called the mistake an “egregious failure.” The Ministry of Justice has also begun its own review to determine what went wrong and who was responsible.
“This man was behind bars for serious sex offenses,” Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News on Sunday. “He should not even be in this country. He was supposed to be transferred for deportation — so the fact that he ended up free on the streets is extremely serious. It’s a massive failure.”
The case comes amid growing public concern over unauthorized migration, particularly the thousands of migrants who continue to cross the English Channel in overcrowded boats. The government’s controversial practice of housing asylum-seekers in hotels while their claims are processed has also drawn widespread criticism.
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