When news broke that Hadush Kebatu, a convicted sex offender and failed asylum seeker, had been mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford instead of being deported, shockwaves rippled through the UK’s justice system and political establishment. The incident, which unfolded on Friday, October 24, 2025, has since become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over immigration, prison management, and public safety.
Kebatu, a 38-year-old Ethiopian national, had arrived in the UK by small boat and had been living in an asylum hotel in Epping, Essex. In July 2025, he committed a string of sexual assaults—including offenses against a 14-year-old girl and a woman—which led to his conviction and a 12-month prison sentence in September. According to DW, his crimes triggered weeks of protests in Epping and at hotels housing asylum seekers across the country. Some demonstrations saw far-right activists clashing with counter-protesters from groups like Stand Up to Racism, underscoring the deep divisions and anxieties surrounding immigration policy in Britain.
Instead of being transferred to an immigration detention center for deportation under the early removals scheme for foreign national offenders, Kebatu was mistakenly freed from prison. As BBC and Sky News reported, the error was attributed to what Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy bluntly called "human error." Lammy addressed the House of Commons with a tone of both frustration and resolve: "I've been clear from the outset that a mistake of this nature is unacceptable. We must get to the bottom of what happened and take immediate action to try and prevent similar releases in error to protect the public from harm."
The blunder set off a frantic 48-hour manhunt, with the Metropolitan Police eventually locating Kebatu at a bus stop in Finsbury Park, north London, on Sunday morning, October 26. According to Commander James Conway, who led the operation, "Information from the public led officers to Finsbury Park and following a search, they located Mr. Kebatu. He was detained by police, but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service." The dramatic arrest was even caught on camera by a passerby, capturing the tense end to a saga that had left many in the country anxious and angry.
What makes this case even more extraordinary is that Kebatu himself appeared baffled by his unexpected release. Multiple outlets, including Sky News and DW, reported that Kebatu was seen trying to return to the prison several times, asking to be deported as originally planned, but was repeatedly turned away. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, citing these reports, told MPs, "Having been mistakenly released, Hadush Kebatu came back to prison asking to be deported not once, not twice, but five times, but he was turned away." Jenrick used the incident to launch a scathing attack on Lammy, calling the episode "a national embarrassment" and dubbing the justice secretary "calamity Lammy."
The political recriminations were swift and fierce. Jenrick demanded that Lammy provide a "cast iron assurance" that Kebatu would be deported by the end of the week and even went so far as to suggest Lammy should resign if that did not happen. When pressed on whether he would consider his position, Lammy dismissed the suggestion as "a ridiculous question, the answer is no." The Prime Minister’s spokesperson also weighed in, indicating that Kebatu’s deportation would occur within days.
As for the victims of Kebatu’s crimes, Lammy promised that the independent investigation—chaired by former Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Dame Lynne Owens—would include direct outreach to them, aiming to "understand the effect this incident had on them." According to Lammy, "Her report will highlight points of failure and make recommendations to help prevent further releases in error, which have been rising year-on-year since 2021."
Indeed, the statistics are sobering. Mistaken prisoner releases have been on the rise, with 262 such incidents recorded between April 2024 and March 2025—more than double the 115 cases from the previous year, as reported by BBC. Lammy pointed to systemic problems in the prison service, including a 30% cut in staffing over recent years and the fact that more than half of frontline officers now have less than five years’ experience. "It's little wonder when the system has been brought to its knees that errors like this happen," he told MPs, attempting to shift some blame onto the previous Conservative government’s legacy.
In response to the debacle, the government has ordered a sweeping overhaul of release procedures. Lammy announced, "New safeguards have been added that amount to the strongest release checks that have ever been in place." These include a requirement that a duty governor be physically present for the release of foreign national offenders, as well as a five-page set of new instructions mandating sign-off by senior prison staff. The Prison Governors' Association acknowledged that these additional checks were likely a reaction to the incident but cautioned that their effectiveness would only become clear after the investigation’s findings.
In the immediate aftermath, a prison officer was suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry, and all removals from HMP Chelmsford under the early removals scheme were temporarily halted. The independent investigation, led by Dame Lynne Owens, will examine whether the staff involved had "sufficient experience, training and technology," as Lammy put it, and will draw on lessons from other high-profile prison incidents, such as the attack on officers at HMP Franklin and the escape of Daniel Khalife from HMP Wandsworth.
The episode has also reignited fierce public debate over the UK’s handling of asylum seekers, foreign national offenders, and the capacity of an overstretched prison system. Kebatu’s initial arrest and the subsequent protests outside asylum hotels reflected the country’s polarized attitudes on immigration—a polarization only exacerbated by this latest mistake.
As the dust settles, Kebatu remains in custody, with officials promising his deportation will proceed as planned. For many, the incident stands as a stark warning of the risks posed by administrative errors in a system already under immense strain. Whether the new safeguards and the independent investigation will be enough to restore public trust remains to be seen, but for now, the government is under intense scrutiny to ensure that such a blunder never happens again.
