A migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison has been arrested in north London following a two-day manhunt, Metropolitan Police said.
Hadush Kebatu was taken into custody in the Finsbury Park area at 8:30am on Sunday, two days after being wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford. The 38-year-old had been sentenced last month for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping while living in a hotel.
Justice Secretary David Lammy said Kebatu would be deported "this week" and announced he would outline terms for a full independent inquiry into the release in Parliament on Monday.
Metropolitan Police said a member of the public alerted officers to a man matching Kebatu's description at a bus stop near Finsbury Park station at 8:03am. Officers located and arrested him 16 minutes later on suspicion of being unlawfully at large.
Kebatu was seen being led away in handcuffs wearing different clothes from the prison-issue grey tracksuit he had last been spotted in on Friday evening. An eyewitness described the arrest as calm, with the suspect walking "quite calmly, a bit dejectedly" with officers.
Essex Police were first notified of Kebatu's mistaken release at 12:57pm on Friday, but he had already boarded a train to east London 16 minutes earlier. CCTV showed him in Chelmsford city center after his release and later at a Dalston library still wearing prison clothing.
Kebatu was convicted of five offences last month and sentenced to 12 months in custody, including time already served. He received a five-year sexual harm prevention order and was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
A prison officer has been suspended pending investigation. HM Prison Service has instructed governors in England and Wales to implement additional checks before inmate releases by Monday.
Official figures show 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 the previous year.
