A convicted child sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison was given £500 of public money to facilitate his deportation to Ethiopia, the Home Office has confirmed.
Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being transferred to an immigration detention centre, triggering a two-day manhunt. He was eventually arrested on Sunday and removed to Ethiopia on Tuesday night with five escorts on the flight.
The discretionary payment was approved by officials on Tuesday after Kebatu threatened to disrupt his removal by challenging it legally. The Home Office said the alternative would have been a slower and more expensive process involving detention, a new flight and potential legal costs.
Kebatu had arrived in the UK in a small boat on 29 June and was housed in Epping. Eight days later, he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman, for which he received a 12-month prison sentence. His case sparked public disorder outside the hotel where he was accommodated.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she shared the public's anger over his release and had “pulled every lever” to secure his removal. However, the Conservatives described the payment as an “absolute disgrace”, with a spokesperson for Kemi Badenoch calling for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and deport all foreign criminals without taxpayer-funded incentives.
