A video shared online on Friday appears to show the offender walking freely on a crowded street
The migrant who sparked widespread protests across the UK earlier this year after sexually assaulting a child near an asylum hotel was mistakenly released from prison, triggering a manhunt and public backlash.
Hadush Kebatu, 41, was convicted on two counts of sexual assault against a 14-year-old girl and a woman, and other charges, and sentenced to 12 months in prison last month. His attacks sparked nationwide protests amid mounting public backlash to the UK’s ongoing migrant influx crisis.
After a video of Kebatu free on a busy street in the town of Chelmsford emerged on Friday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged that he was set loose in error.
“The mistaken release at His Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Chelmsford is totally unacceptable,” he wrote on X a few hours after the news broke.
“The police are working urgently to track him down,” he added.
We believe this to be Hadush Ketabu, who is currently on the run.Ketabu is a convicted sex offender and former resident of an Epping migrant hotel. He has accidentally been released from prison – he was supposed to be sent to an Immigration Detention Centre. This video was… pic.twitter.com/ibXOklofbL
— Sydney Jones 🇬🇧 (POB) 🟣 (@JournoJones05) October 24, 2025
The prison officer responsible for the convict’s release has been removed from any duties related to discharging prisoners, according to the Guardian.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rt.com
