Authorities are facing scrutiny after confirming that an Ethiopian asylum seeker, convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and another woman, was inadvertently released from prison on Friday, prompting a widespread search for the runaway sex offender.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, aged 38, received a 12-month prison sentence in September, as reported by Reuters.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his dismay, labeling Kebatu’s release as “totally unacceptable,” The Associated Press noted.
His apprehension in July triggered several weeks of demonstrations outside the , a migrant accommodation site located approximately 20 miles north of London, the report indicated.
In 2023, the Home Secretary stated that over 400 hotels were utilized to accommodate asylum seekers, incurring daily expenses of almost £9 million GBP, equivalent to approximately $11.3 million.
“We concur with communities across the nation that these hotels must cease operations — including the Bell Hotel in Epping,” UK Foreign Secretary and Labour MP Yvette Cooper previously commented. “We are working to achieve this rapidly via a structured and sustainable strategy, rather than relying on isolated court decisions that could generate further difficulties for other local regions or councils.
“Such fragmented decisions carry the risk of reintroducing the disarray that initially led to the extensive use of hotels.”
According to the report, officials stated that Kebatu was slated for transfer to an , but was released erroneously.
David Lammy, Britain’s Secretary of State for Justice, posted on X that he was “appalled by the erroneous release at HMP Chelmsford.”
Lammy stated, “We are collaborating swiftly with the police to locate him, and I have initiated an urgent inquiry. Kebatu should be deported for his offenses, not permitted to roam our streets.”
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Member of Parliament for North West Essex, also published a strongly worded post, declaring that the situation was “.”
Badenoch wrote, “The individual, falsely claiming asylum, who sexually assaulted a child in Epping, has been ‘released by mistake.’ How can this occur? It is because the entire system is failing under the Labour government. The government is erroneously releasing individuals instead of deporting them. Those who were deported are returning. No significant action has been taken to mitigate the danger to women and girls residing in these areas.”
Badenoch mentioned that Conservatives opposed Labour’s prisoner release initiative, arguing it was “releasing predators back into our communities,” while noting Kebatu had only recently been convicted.
She added, “This level of incompetence is beyond comprehension. Only the Conservatives possess a strategy for more secure borders and public safety.”
On X, , the Member of Parliament for Clacton and Leader of Reform UK, further commented, “The migrant sex offender from the Epping hotel has been inadvertently released instead of being deported. He is currently at large in Essex. Britain is fractured.”