Migrant sex offender to be deported as he is arrested after mistakenly released from jail
A sex offender accidentally freed from jail and back into the community has been arrested near a bus stop after a two-day citywide manhunt.
This is the moment cops cuffed wrongly-freed migrant sex attacker Hadush Kebatu.
Police in London has been searching for days for the 41-year-old Ethiopian man after he was accidentally freed from jail and allowed to return to the community.
He was eventually found and arrested near a bus stop in Finsbury Park, North London, at 8.35am on Sunday, local time.
Pictures have shown the exact moment Kebatu was arrested by three plain-clothed officers and led to a police van, The Sun reports.
Kebatu was wearing a dark-coloured puffa jacket with a checkered black and grey hoodie up, jeans and grey trainers.
He had acquired the clothing after being initially freed from Chelmsford Prison on Friday while wearing a prison-issue grey tracksuit.
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It is understood Kebatu was recognised by someone on a bus who then alerted police.
Met Police officers were called to the scene at 8.03am and spotted Kebatu at 8.19am inside the park.
Once Kebatu’s identity was confirmed, he was arrested for being unlawfully at large.
“He was arrested near the bus stop,” one witness told The Sun. “There was one plain-clothed 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.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed his arrest.
A Met spokesperson said: “Kebatu was arrested by Met officers in the Finsbury Park area of London at around 08:30hrs this morning (Sunday, 26 October).”
Commander James Conway, who has overseen the operation to find Kebatu, 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.”
In a statement on X, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote: “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.”
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Kebatu would be deported “as quickly as possible”.
“I would like to thank the Met, Essex and British Transport Police for their tireless work around the clock to hunt down and arrest Hadush Kebatu,” she said.
“He will be deported as quickly as possible.”
Justice Secretary David Lammy added: “Kebatu has been arrested, is now in custody and will be deported.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has called for Kebatu to be “immediately deported”.
“They should never have allowed his release and I think David Lammy and Shabana Mahmood have questions to answer because they have presided over this system,” the Conservative MP for Croydon South told Britain’s GB News.
“What should happen now to this man is that he should be immediately deported. He is quite clearly a risk to women and girls.
“Just eight days after illegally crossing the Channel, he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Essex and we don’t want people in this country who are going to attack women and girls in that way, so he should be immediately deported.”
It comes just hours after shocking CCTV footage emerged of Kebatu on Saturday strolling around East London as the manhunt became increasingly desperate.
Kebatu was meant to be sent to an immigration detention centre to be deported but instead was accidentally freed from prison on Friday.
Footage later showed him on Saturday strolling inside a library in Dalston, East London, at around 6pm the day of his release.
He was later seen “trying to get a free night’s stay” at the nearby Premier Inn.
The wrongly-freed inmate was wearing his prison-issue grey tracksuit top and bottoms in the most recent images of him.
A prison officer was suspended when it was discovered Kebatu had been mistakenly let out of the prison where he was supposed to be serving a 12-month sentence.
It was also revealed prison staff directed the migrant sex offender towards the station to help him get the train after being freed, according to a witness.
This story was first published by The Sun and was republished with permission.
Originally published as Migrant sex offender to be deported as he is arrested after mistakenly released from jail
