The mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu, a 38-year-old migrant sex offender from Ethiopia, has ignited a storm of controversy in the UK, putting the government’s handling of the migrant crisis and criminal deportations under intense scrutiny. The episode, which unfolded over the last week of October 2025, has left politicians, law enforcement, and the public grappling with questions of accountability, operational errors, and the ethics of paying offenders to leave the country.
Kebatu’s story is as unsettling as it is complicated. According to Sky News and The Guardian, Kebatu had been sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Essex, offenses committed while he was housed at an asylum seeker hotel. Just four weeks into his sentence at HMP Chelmsford, he was supposed to be transferred to an immigration detention center ahead of deportation to Ethiopia. Instead, due to what Justice Secretary David Lammy later described as “human error,” prison staff mistakenly released him on Friday, October 24, 2025.
The blunder set off a nationwide manhunt that lasted three days. CCTV footage captured Kebatu in Chelmsford town center shortly after his release, then boarding a train to Stratford, east London. He was later seen in Dalston, Hackney, on Friday night, and at a library in Dalston Square earlier that evening, still wearing his prison-issued tracksuit and carrying a white tote bag adorned with avocados. By Saturday, his whereabouts became murky, but the Metropolitan Police finally arrested him in Finsbury Park, north London, at around 8:30 am on Sunday, October 26.
In his first interview after returning home, Kebatu told Sky News that he had tried to turn himself in to the police. “Saturday I get a police. Police I am wanted man, I arrested, I give you my hand. Please, help me, where is police station,” he claimed, insisting he had approached officers and explained his situation. “You know me, my image. I am Hadush Kebatu – I am a national of Ethiopia – please, I was the mistake release, please help me.”
But the Metropolitan Police have forcefully disputed Kebatu’s version of events. In a statement, the force said there was “no evidence” that Kebatu approached officers on Saturday morning. Instead, they asserted, “Kebatu’s actions on the morning of his arrest were more like those of someone trying to avoid officers, not trying to hand himself in.”
The circumstances of Kebatu’s release have drawn fierce criticism from across the political spectrum. Conservative MP for Epping Forest, Neil Hudson, didn’t mince words, calling the incident a “catastrophic mistake” that had “deeply distressed, upset and angered” the community. “Accountability must go right to the top,” Hudson demanded, echoing the sentiments of many who feel the episode is symptomatic of deeper systemic failures in the management of migrants and offenders.
Meanwhile, the government’s response has also raised eyebrows. After his arrest, Kebatu threatened to disrupt his deportation flight, even suggesting he might lodge a new asylum claim or launch a legal challenge. According to Home Office sources cited by The Guardian, Kebatu was paid £500 to expedite his removal after he threatened to cause problems on the flight. This payment, described as “discretionary,” was made to avoid the much higher costs of rebooking flights and providing additional security. Policing Minister Sarah Jones explained the rationale in blunt terms: “So the choice was £500 versus £10,000 and I think in terms of use of taxpayers’ money, that was the right decision to make,” she told LBC.
Jones acknowledged the optics were troubling. “So it sticks in the throat, right? I get that. It does for me. It does for most people,” she admitted to Sky News. Yet she emphasized that such payments were not unprecedented: “I think there has always been a system where some payments are sometimes made in order to get people on the planes and get them out of the country. I don’t think that is a new thing.”
According to the Home Office, Kebatu had attempted to apply for a “facilitated return scheme,” which under successive governments has offered foreign nationals resettlement grants of up to £1,500. His application was denied, but the £500 was offered in direct response to his threats to disrupt the flight. The payment was an operational decision, not approved by ministers, and was made only after it became clear that forcibly removing him without such an incentive would be far more expensive and complicated.
Kebatu was ultimately deported from Britain on Tuesday night, October 28, 2025, accompanied by a team of five security escorts. He arrived in Ethiopia on the morning of Wednesday, October 29, with no right to return to the UK. The Home Office confirmed that he had crossed the Channel by small boat to enter the UK on June 29, 2025, and left prison with some personal money but did not receive a discharge grant.
The debacle has prompted Justice Secretary David Lammy to launch an independent investigation into the circumstances of Kebatu’s mistaken release. Lammy has put “human error” at the center of the blunder and expects the inquiry to report back “within a few months max.” The investigation will examine not only the immediate failings at HMP Chelmsford but also the broader systems in place for managing the transfer and deportation of foreign national offenders.
The Kebatu case has also reignited debate about the UK’s broader approach to illegal migration and the management of foreign offenders. The incident came amid a backlash against the government’s efforts to tackle illegal migration, particularly after reports that a man deported under the “one in, one out” scheme with France had re-entered the UK by crossing the Channel in a small boat. Critics argue that such episodes undermine public confidence in the government’s ability to enforce immigration law and protect communities.
For many, the most galling aspect remains the payment to Kebatu. While officials and ministers have defended the move as a pragmatic, if unpalatable, use of taxpayer money, the optics of paying a convicted sex offender to leave the country have left a sour taste. As Jones put it, “He’s obviously a nasty criminal. We wanted out of the country, and we wanted to make sure he left.”
As the independent investigation gets underway and the government faces mounting pressure to tighten its procedures, the Kebatu case stands as a stark reminder of the challenges and complexities at the intersection of criminal justice, immigration, and public safety. The coming months will reveal whether lessons have truly been learned—or whether similar mistakes lie ahead.
