Epping hotel sex attacker is ‘at large in London’, David Lammy says – as migrant offender

A migrant who was accidentally released from prison where he was serving time for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl is ‘at large in London‘, David Lammy has said. 

Hadush Kebatu, 41, was meant to be transferred from HMP Chelmsford to an immigration removal centre this morning in order to be deported. 

However, the Ethiopian sex attacker who arrived in the UK by small boat was accidentally let loose and is currently on the run. 

Justice Secretary Mr Lammy said on Friday night Kebatu is now believed to be in the capital after he boarded a train at Chelmsford Station at 12.41pm on Friday. 

The Greater Anglia service stopped at Shenfield and Stratford before arriving at London Liverpool Street at 13.18pm, according to Trainline data.

Sir Keir Starmer said the mistake was ‘totally unacceptable’, adding that the Government is supporting police trying to track Kebatu down.

Videos circulating on social media show a man matching the migrant’s description chatting to people in Chelmsford town centre. 

The man is wearing a grey tracksuit and carrying a clear plastic bag with a copy of Salvation Army’s War Cry inside – a magazine which is popular in prison.

Staff at Chelmsford train station tonight told the Daily Mail that Kebatu bought a ticket to London ‘like everyone else’. 

One worker, who did not want to be named, said: ‘He must have got a ticket. My colleague who was here has given a statement to British Transport Police about what happened.

‘Police swarmed the place after. They spoke to people who were here.

‘He got a ticket and then went straight through. We don’t think he did it on his phone. You can’t use your card at this station either. It’s not London.

‘So he must have got a ticket and paid like anyone else.’

One witness added they had seen a man matching the description of Kebatu on Chelmsford high street asking for directions to the train station. 

The man, in his 40s, who did not want to be named, said: ‘I work and live in the town centre. That man was here at around 1pm and he stood out.

‘He was asking for directions to the train station, which is about a 20 minute walk from where he was. 

‘He had belongings with him. He looked lost and confused. I just thought he was in a mess, in a bad way.’

A senior justice source today described Kebatu’s release as ‘the mother of all f*** ups and said it was down to human error. 

It is understood that a prison officer has been removed from discharging duties while an urgent investigation takes place.

Responding to the blunder, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Labour of ‘incompetence that beggars belief’, adding that the ‘whole system is collapsing’. 

It also comes just days after a migrant who was previously deported under the Prime Minister’s ‘one in, one out’ migration policy returned to the UK on a small boat. 

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage added: ‘The Epping hotel migrant sex attacker has been accidentally freed rather than deported.

‘He is now walking the streets of Essex. Britain is broken.’

Kebatu, who tried to kiss a schoolgirl and groped the woman who came to her aid, had been due to be deported from Britain imminently, the Daily Mail understands.

He was jailed for one year on September 23 and had been in prison for just four weeks prior to his release today.

Offenders who are subject to deportation are normally transferred by a secure prison van directly to an immigration removal centre.

It remains unclear why Kebatu was allowed to leave the prison rather than being put aboard a secure vehicle.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said he was ‘appalled’ at the latest error, adding the convicted sex attacker ‘must be deported for his crimes, not on our streets’.

Meanwhile, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the ‘outrageous’ fiasco was a ‘national embarrassment’.

‘The case of Hadush Kebatu is a parable for how the British state consistently fails the British people,’ the Tory frontbencher said.

‘It’s outrageous the victims have been failed in this way. The whole saga is a national embarrassment. He should have been on a flight out of the UK long ago.’

Chelmsford’s MP said the significant increase in the number of prisoners released in error last year showed there was ‘something systemic which is broken’.

Marie Goldman said: ‘I think we should all be concerned by that sort of figure.

‘No prisoner should be released inadvertently in error. I think we should all be concerned about that, especially when the number’s getting bigger, not smaller.

‘So, this is one of the reasons why we need a full and rapid public inquiry into this. There’s obviously something systemic which is broken.’

She added that the figures showed there was a national problem and not ‘a problem that happened by chance that could never happen elsewhere’.

She said: ‘Obviously that has happened elsewhere and seems like it’s not been fixed.’

A Prison Service spokesperson confirmed that Kebatu had accidentally been released from custody. 

They said: ‘We are urgently working with police to return an offender to custody following a release in error at HMP Chelmsford.

‘Public protection is our top priority and we have launched an investigation into this incident.’

Chelmsford residents said they are ‘terrified’ at the news and have set up residents patrol groups to find the escaped offender.

Mother-of-four Jane Marshall, 56, said: ‘It’s terrifying. What the hell has gone wrong there for that to happen.

‘It’s a joke. It’s an absolute disgrace. This is a family area. We’re so worried.

‘We won’t go out as single women. We’ve decided to go out in groups. It’s a residents patrol.

‘We can’t believe the news.’

Another mother said she was ‘petrified’ and said women would be out in groups now.

Richard Dixon, 45, who lives in a house opposite the prison, said there has been a heavy police presence in the area.

He said: ‘We can’t believe it. There was police and sirens and all sorts earlier.

‘It’s horrific. We’ve seen apparent footage of this man wandering the street. Women are terrified.’

Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court previously heard Kebatu acted ‘ignorantly and repulsively’ when he sexually assaulted the schoolgirl just eight days after arriving in the UK on a small boat.

The Ethiopian national became aroused as he put his hand on the girl’s thighs and stroked her hair despite knowing ‘full well she was only 14’.

He also told her he wanted to marry her and have a baby with her, and invited her back to The Bell Hotel in Epping where he was staying. 

The migrant, who was a ‘teacher of sports’ in his home country, then tried to kiss a woman who attempted to intervene, before putting his hand on her leg and telling her she was pretty.

After assaulting the schoolgirl Kebatu was chased back to The Bell Hotel by his adult victim, who called police.

Kebatu denied three counts of sexual assault, one of attempted sexual assault, a charge of harassment and another of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, but was convicted on all charges at trial.

The offences took place on July 7 and 8 this year.

District Judge Christopher Williams said his ‘disgusting and sickening’ behaviour, which sparked a huge anti-migrant demonstration in Epping, Essex, highlighted the ‘poor regard you must have for women’. 

The migrant had shown ‘no remorse’, the court heard. 

Kebatu, who the court heard had tried to take his own life while on remand in prison, showed no emotion as he was told his sentence. 

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and told to sign the sex offenders register. He was also told to pay £650 in court costs, but is now loose on the streets of Britain.

Kebatu’s arrest sparked a wave of anti-migrant protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers across the country this summer. 

In response the Prime Minister recently announced a new ‘one in, one out’ deal with France, which enables the UK to return migrants to the European country in exchange for genuine asylum seekers.

But the plan hit a road bump this week after it emerged that one such migrant who had been deported to France was spotted arriving in the UK again, having made a second voyage across the Channel.

The PM insisted the man would be swiftly returned, again, to France. 

Speaking to ITV Meridian on a visit to Peacehaven this morning, the PM said: ‘The individual that has returned, he is already in detention. He will now be fast tracked back out of the country, because we obviously have his details.

‘We know he hasn’t got a claim to make, therefore we’ll remove him very, very swiftly. So his return journey back to United Kingdom is completely pointless, and it’s really important I make that absolutely clear.’

Pressed whether the Government’s approach to stopping small boats was ‘in tatters’, Sir Keir said ‘no’.