Migrant mistakenly released from prison arrested after police manhunt
The Metropolitan Police has thanked the public after Hadush Kebatu was found and arrested in the Finsbury Park area of London on Sunday morning.
Sunday 26 October 2025 15:00, UK
A migrant who was mistakenly released from prison has been arrested following a police manhunt.
Hadush Kebatu was arrested by Metropolitan Police officers in the Finsbury Park area of London at around 8.30am on Sunday morning.
Commander James Conway said: "This has been a diligent and fast paced investigation.
"Information from the public led officers to Finsbury Park and following a search, they located Mr Kebatu. He was detained by police, but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service.
"I am extremely grateful to the public for their support following our appeal, which assisted in locating Mr Kebatu."
Kebatu was freed in error from HMP Chelmsford in Essex on Friday instead of being handed over to immigration officials for deportation - one month into a 12-month sentence.
The Ethiopian national had been found guilty in September of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping.
His crimes while staying at The Bell Hotel in Epping sparked weeks of protests over the summer.
The Met Police led the search for Kebatu, alongside Essex Police and the British Transport Police, and revealed the timeline of the arrest.
A call from a member of the public came in at 8.03am on Sunday morning, the force said, after a man believed to be Kebatu was spotted at a bus stop near Finsbury Park Station.
Officers were deployed to the area to carry out searches, and at 8.19am, they spotted a man matching Kebatu's description inside the park, a short distance from the entrance opposite Finsbury Park Road.
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy said Kebatu would be deported now he has been found.
Mr Lammy said in a post on X: "Thanks to the Met, Essex and British Transport Police for their swift and thorough work.
"I have already ordered the immediate strengthening of release checks and a full investigation into what went wrong.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer added: "Hadush Kebatu has been arrested and will be deported.
"Officers have worked quickly and diligently to bring him back into custody.
"We have ordered an investigation to establish what went wrong. We must make sure this doesn't happen again."
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Kebatu would be deported "as quickly as possible", before she thanked the various police forces "for their tireless work around the clock" to track down the prisoner.
'An egregious failure'
Speaking on Paste BN' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme before Kebatu was found, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Mr Lammy was "commissioning an investigation into what's gone wrong? Who is responsible?
"So there can be accountability. We know that one prison officer has been suspended already, but there does need to be accountability for such an egregious failure."
A lorry driver, who was delivering equipment to Chelmsford jail on Friday, told Paste BN he saw the "confused" offender outside the facility being directed by prison staff to the city's railway station following his release.
The witness, called Sim, said Kebatu came out of the jail saying, "Where am I going? What am I doing?" - hanging around for about 90 minutes as he tried to find out where he should be going.
Sim said the offender returned to the prison "four or five times" but was turned away.
He said Kebatu knew he should be deported but the prison staff were "basically sending him away" and saying to him, "Go, you've been released, you go".
Read more:
Timeline of manhunt for migrant sex offender
How many prisoners are released by mistake?
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Kebatu was spotted later in Chelmsford city centre asking for assistance before getting on a train to London.
The last sighting of him before he was found and detained was in Dalston CLR James Library in Dalston Square on Friday evening.