London police arrest a sex offender and asylum-seeker who was mistakenly released from prison

LONDON (AP) — On Sunday, London police claimed they had captured a convicted sex offender and asylum seeker who had been let out of prison by mistake. This mistake has embarrassed the government.

The Metropolitan Police claimed they detained Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an Ethiopian citizen, in the Finsbury Park area of north London. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would be sent back to his home country as quickly as feasible.

Kebatu was already in the news before he was released by mistake. His arrest earlier this year for sexually assaulting a teenage girl led to a wave of heated anti-migrant protests in London and other cities.

Authorities were told on Friday afternoon that Kebatu had been let go by accident from a jail in Chelmsford, Essex, and that he was observed getting on a train to London there. British news outlets said that he was incorrectly labeled as a prisoner who was about to be freed instead of being sent to an immigration detention center. The migrant was sentenced to 12 months in prison in September for five crimes, including sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Epping, on the outskirts of London, barely over a week after he arrived in England by boat. Thousands of people protested outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, which is northeast of London, where he was sleeping with other new arrivals. In British cities and towns, there were more rallies against hotels that housed migrants. Some of these events were attended by far-right militants and turned into riots.

Stand Up to Racism also held counterprotests.

The jail Service announced that the jail officer has been taken off duty while the investigation is going on.

Officials in the government have called the wrong release a “egregious failure.” David Lammy, the Secretary of Justice, said that he ordered checks on prisoners’ release to be made stronger right away. An investigation will find out what went wrong and who was to blame. Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News on Sunday, before Kebatu’s arrest, that “this man was behind bars because of serious sex offenses.” “He isn’t supposed to be in this country.” What was going to happen was that he was supposed to be moved to a place where he could be deported. That means he’s free to roam our streets, which is really problematic. It is a big mistake.”

The problem of illegal immigration, notably the tens of thousands of people who are crossing the English Channel in overcrowded boats to get to the U.K., has become a top political concern in Britain.

Figures show that more over 36,900 persons have made the risky trip from France to the U.K. this year, which is more than the total number recorded in 2024. So far, efforts by the governments of Britain, France, and other countries to stop people from smuggling or keep migrants from coming have not worked.

There has also been a lot of criticism of the government’s plan to put migrants who are waiting for a judgment on their asylum status in hotels.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/migration-britain-asylum-seeker-search-arrested-kebatu-c15cf5564c1e3b6ed42fe3e67b3e807f

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