A migrant who was mistakenly released from prison has been found in north London and taken back into custody following a large-scale manhunt, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Hadush Kebatu was found in the Finsbury Park area at 08:30 GMT on Sunday morning, two days after being let go in error from HMP Chelmsford.
Kebatu, who was sentenced last month for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping while living in an asylum hotel, released in error instead of being taken for deportation.
The Met Police said Kebatu was detained by police and “will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service”.
Cmd James Conway, who oversaw 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 (BTP).
“Information from the public led officers to Finsbury Park and following a search, they located Mr Kebatu.
“I am extremely grateful to the public for their support following our appeal, which assisted in locating Mr Kebatu.”
Essex Police were first made aware that Kebatu had been released in error at 12:57 on Friday but Kebatu had already boarded a train to east London 16 minutes earlier.
He was picked up on CCTV at a library in the Dalston area on Friday evening wearing a prison-issue grey tracksuit and carrying a white bag with pictures of avocados on it.
Kebatu’s arrest in July sparked protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, where he had been living since arriving in the UK on a small boat.
In September, Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard Kebatu tried to kiss a teenage girl on a bench and made numerous sexually explicit comments.
The following day, he encountered the same girl and tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her. He also sexually assaulted a woman who had offered to help him draft a CV to find work.
Kebatu gave his age as 38 during a court appearance, but a judge said he had been seen information indicating he was 41.
He denied the charges against him but was found guilty of five offences last month and sentenced to 12 months in custody, including the time he had already time in jail awaiting his trial. In total, he spent 108 days in prison.
Kebatu was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order, which banned him from approaching or contacting any female, and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
During his trial, the court heard it was Kebatu’s “firm wish” to be deported. Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and has received a custodial sentence of at least 12 months.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: BBC
