EPPING asylum hotel sex offender Hadush Kebatu has finally been deported following his farcical release from jail in Chelmsford. His subsequent adventures involved wandering around London parks while police failed for two days to find him.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: ‘Last week’s blunder should never have happened – and I share the public’s anger that it did.
‘I have pulled every lever to deport Mr Kebatu and remove him off British soil. I am pleased to confirm this vile child sex offender has been deported. Our streets are safe because of it.’ Among the levers pulled by the Home Secretary, it was later revealed, was a decision to pay Kebatu £500 to go without a fuss.
This all leaves some questions about why Kebatu has been deported to Ethiopia rather than serving his 12-month sentence (or part of it), and why indeed the Home Secretary gives him the respectful title ‘Mr’.
But the public will be most worried about whether our streets are really safer. Here is the expert analysis of Dary Makoona, prison law specialist at major criminal law firm Reeds Solicitors.
‘It was predictable that mistakes like this would happen as prisons are critically understaffed and overworked. Additionally, new and inexperienced officers are being given large caseloads to manage which will lead to errors.
‘There are also too many new release provisions being rolled out by the Government which requires sometimes complex calculations which should have been done by experienced senior officers only.
‘This is a growing problem in prisons as a report from His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service states that 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 in the previous 12 months.
‘On the other hand, how many people are being unlawfully detained due to mistakes by the prison service not releasing them at the right time? These figures would also be interesting to know, and the cost paid by the Ministry of Justice for unlawful detention.’
He added: ‘This problem can only get worse with the introduction of the new Sentencing Bill next year with so many exclusions and carve-outs for early releases on the earned progression scheme or fixed term recall for some prisoners. Mistakes will happen.
‘In Kebatu’s case, this is not a mistake of just one officer but a whole system failure. Where was the Probation Service role in that release? If he was released, it should have been under licence conditions. Did he sign his licence upon being released? Was probation aware that Kebatu was being released?
‘What was the role of the Home Office in this as he is a convicted sex offender subject to deportation? Why did they not detain him under immigration rules when he was released by the prison?
‘Kebatu was also on a five-year sexual harm prevention order and on the Sex Offender Register, which means he was supposed to notify the police of his address. In this case, it appears that he was released homeless without reporting to any police station.’
