Prisons to begin extra checks from today after migrant sex offender mistakenly released

The Government has moved to rapidly introduce new, mandatory procedures following the accidental release of a migrant sex offender from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.

Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu was jailed for 12 months in September for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl and was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.

Kebatu was later arrested in the Finsbury Park area of north London at around 8.30am on Sunday after three days on the run.

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Today, Justice Secretary David Lammy will outline an independent inquiry into how Kebatu was released.

A prison officer was suspended in the wake of the mistake, but the Justice Department is keen to make sure no high-profile errors happen again.

Following his arrest on Sunday, Sir Keir Starmer took to social media to confirm an investigation had been launched as he said: "We must make sure this doesn't happen again."

Kebatu is expected to be deported as early as Tuesday as questions continue to be asked why he was still in the country to be mistakenly released in the first place.

Pictures show Kebatu being led away with his hands behind his back by female officers outside Finsbury Park in North London following the three-day hunt to track him down.

The Metropolitan Police said they were contacted by a member of the public who had seen a man believed to be Kebatu at a bus stop near Finsbury Park Station.

Officers were deployed to carry out a search of the area, and at 8.19am, officers spotted a man matching Kebatu's description inside the park, a short distance from the entrance opposite Finsbury Park Road.

They confirmed he was Hadush Kebatu and arrested him for being unlawfully at large.

A witness told The Sun: "There was one plain-clothes female officer and another woman officer in uniform.

"Two uniformed male officers wearing blue forensics gloves joined them and put him in the back of a van.

"He was handcuffed behind his back and looked pretty glum. There was no struggle.

"People around recognised him immediately but let the police get on with their job."

Commander James Conway, who has overseen the operation, said: “This has been a diligent and fast paced investigation led by specialist officers from the Metropolitan Police, supported by Essex Police and the British Transport Police.

“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.”