Met police take over search for Epping sex offender after London sighting – as it happened | UK news

The Metropolitan police took over a manhunt for convicted sex offender Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu on Saturday, as there was a “high level of confidence” that the asylum seeker was in the London area.

Kebatu, who was released in error from HMP Chelmsford on Friday, boarded a train for London and got off at Stratford station, the force said. As a result, the manhunt was transferred from Essex police to the Met shortly after 11.30am on Saturday.

Kebatu was found guilty of five offences last month after attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl twice, before sexually assaulting her, and sexually assaulting a woman and trying to kiss her too.

He committed the offences just days after arriving in the UK on a small boat and taking up residence at the Bell hotel in Epping. His case triggered protests outside the hotel, which far-right activists sought to exploit, leading to assaults on police officers and 32 arrests.

At his trial, the district judge Christopher Williams said Kebatu posed a “significant risk of reoffending” and sentenced him to 12 months in prison.

In other developments:

• Cmdr James Conway, of the Metropolitan police, said finding Hadush Kebatu was a “top priority” for the force. Conway said: “We’ve confirmed that Kebatu got off the London-bound train at Stratford station. We are examining CCTV from that area and further afield, including on the transport network, to establish information about his subsequent movements.
  We will provide further updates when we can, but I hope the press and the public will understand why it would be unhelpful to the effectiveness of the manhunt if we were to provide a detailed running commentary.”

• A delivery driver called Sim, who spoke to Hadush Kebatu at Chelmsford prison told Sky News the “confused” offender was guided to the railway station by prison staff. Sim said Kebatu was outside the prison for “an hour and a half” before being sent away by prison staff. He told Sky News that Kebatu must have been outside the prison for roughly “an hour and a half,” before he finally left, adding, “They [the officers] were basically sending him away, saying, ‘Go, you’ve been released, you go.’ Sim described Kebatu as being “very confused,” saying, “He kept scratching his head and saying, ‘Where do I go, where do I go?’
  “The fourth or fifth time [he went into the reception] he was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed. I’m not sticking up for the guy, but in my eyes, he was trying to do the right thing. He knew he was getting deported, but he didn’t know where he was going or how he should get there.” He added that the officers had no interest in helping him, saying, “You’re released, you’re released”.

• Kebatu was wrongly categorised as a prisoner due to be released on licence and handed a £76 discharge grant, the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Once at the station, a one mile walk from the prison, Kebatu bought a ticket to London at a cost of £20.90.

• Councillor Chris Whitbread, Leader of Epping Forest District Council said on Saturday that he was “shocked and appalled” by the mistaken release. He said: “Frankly, I am at a loss to understand how such a grave error could occur.”

• The Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman said on Saturday: “My mind has blown. How this could possibly happen?”

• Stephen Robinson, the Liberal Democrat leader of Chelmsford city council, said Kebatu must be located and deported “as soon as possible”. “This is outrageous,” he told BBC Breakfast on Saturday.

• MP Neil Hudson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This sounds like an operational error, but the buck has to stop somewhere, and it has to stop at the top, at the Justice Secretary, the home secretary and the prime minister.

• On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer called the accidental release of Hadush Kebatu “totally unacceptable”, adding: “I am appalled that it has happened and it’s being investigated … The police are working urgently to track him down, and my Government is supporting them … This man must be caught and deported for his crimes.”

• David Lammy said he was “livid on behalf of the public” and added that he had launched an investigation.

• A former detective superintendent with the Metropolitan police told BBC News that accidental releases were “quite common”.

• Prison Service sources said the release was down to human error. It is understood the prison officer who authorised the release has been removed from duties while an urgent investigation takes place. But one prison source described it as a “disaster waiting to happen” because of the high volume of releases being processed by inexperienced staff, with dozens of prisoners serving different tariffs being released at the same time.
  And a senior prison staffer told the BBC: “This is down to a series of mistakes probably because staff are overworked and in short supply. It’s not just one prison officer who’s to blame. That would be unfair”.

• In the 12 months leading up to March this year, 262 prisoners were released in error in England and Wales, the majority of which were releases in error occurring from prison establishments, according to the Prison Service’s annual digest. “This is a 128% increase from 115 the previous year, and the highest in the time series,” the report said.