Migrant sex offender given £500 after threat to disrupt deportation
According to the BBC, a migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from gaol was given a $\pounds 500$ payment after threatening to prevent his removal from the UK to Ethiopia. Hadush Kebatu was sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman while staying in an asylum facility in Epping, Essex, but prison staff mistakenly released him on Friday. Following a two-day manhunt, he was taken back into custody.
According to the Home Office, the Ethiopian national was put on a flight on Tuesday night and landed the following morning. The decision to make the payment was apparently made by the removal team and was considered an alternative to a more costly and lengthy process.
According to reports, Kebatu was forcibly deported and accompanied by five escorts on the flight. Paid removals are part of the Facilitated Returns Scheme, under which foreign nationals who agree to leave the UK are paid $\pounds 1,500$. Forcible returns do not usually require payments, but removal teams can choose to make a discretionary payment to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as planned. In this case, the fear was that it would cost much more to re-book the flights, which could have resulted in costly court action. According to reports, the payment was made by the removal team, not ministers, and avoided a slower and more costly process, which may have included detention, a new flight, and possibly contesting subsequent legal action.
According to Ethiopian police, Kebatu arrived in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, early on Wednesday and was briefly detained by police at the airport. He was later released because there was no legal reason for his continued detention, according to Ethiopian Federal Police spokesman Jaylan Abde.
🗣️ Official Statements and Fallout
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said earlier this week that last week's blunder should never have happened and that she shared the public's indignation that it did.
"I have pulled every lever to deport Mr Kebatu and have him removed from British soil," she said. "I am delighted to report that this vile child sex criminal has been deported. Our streets are safer as a result of it."
Under an Early Removals Policy for foreign national offenders, Kebatu was supposed to be transferred from HMP Chelmsford to an immigration detention centre on Friday. Instead, he was released in what Justice Secretary David Lammy earlier described as an apparent human error.
By the time Essex Police were made aware of the situation shortly before 13:00, he had approached members of the public in the city centre for assistance and boarded a train to London. After a member of the public notified the police that they might have spotted him near Finsbury Park station, he was arrested in north London on Sunday morning.
Home Office Minister Alex Norris told BBC Breakfast that the matter had "ended in the way it had to end." He added: "We admit that this was a blunder; we're really upset about it because I know the public is angry about it."
🔍 Inquiry and Response
Immediate controls had been put in place in gaols to prevent a repeat of the incident, which included more stringent checks after offenders leave gaol for deportation, as well as an independent inquiry that will reveal lessons learned. The independent inquiry will determine how Kebatu was selected and whether staff had sufficient knowledge, training, and technology. Former Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Dame Lynne Owens will consult with Kebatu's victims and make suggestions to avoid any more incorrect releases, which have increased in recent years. An urgent investigation has been requested into the checks that take place after someone is released from gaol. A gaol officer has been suspended, and no expulsions from HMP Chelmsford under the ERS will take place this week.
Neil Hudson, the Conservative MP for Epping Forest, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the community would be very relieved by Kebatu's deportation.
"No one wants to see our hometown as the lead story on the news," he said, also referencing the local authority's legal battle to stop migrants from staying at The Bell Hotel, where Kebatu had been residing. "The events over the weekend have really brought things to the surface," he said. "This is terribly frustrating, and the government must take responsibility."
📝 Kebatu's Background
Kebatu arrived in the United Kingdom after crossing the Channel on a small boat on June 29th, having travelled through Sudan, Libya, Italy, and France. His detention in July sparked a rash of protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, which was being used to house asylum seekers, including Kebatu.
The Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard that Kebatu had attempted to kiss a teenage girl in the town centre, making sexually explicit remarks to her. He encountered the same girl the next day and attempted to kiss her before sexually assaulting her and another woman. He denied the allegations against him, but was found guilty of five criminal charges and sentenced to 12 months in gaol, including the time he had already spent in prison while waiting for his conviction. Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made when a foreign national is sentenced to 12 months or more in detention. The court heard it was his firm desire to be deported during Kebatu's appeal.
