Epping migrant sex offender last seen in Hackney on Friday, Met says

An immigrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from an Essex prison was last seen in the Dalston area of ​​Hackney, north London, just before 8pm on Friday, according to the Metropolitan Police.

CCTV footage released by police shows Hadush Kebatu in a library in Dalston Square at around 6pm, wearing a gray prison-themed tracksuit and carrying a white bag decorated with images of avocados.

Additional officers have been deployed to locate the Ethiopian national, who was released weeks after being jailed for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman while staying at a hotel in Epping, Essex.

Addressing Kebatu, Commander James Conway said, “We want to locate you in a safe and controlled manner.”

He added: “You have already expressed your wish to return to Ethiopia when you spoke to immigration staff. The best outcome for you is to contact us directly by calling 999 or reporting yourself to a police station.”

On Saturday, Conway said police were “continuing all investigations” into her disappearance, adding that Kebatu had access to funds and was asking for the public’s help.

Conway added that Kebatu, who arrived in England on a small boat, had made numerous train journeys through London since boarding the train at Chelmsford at 12.41pm on Friday afternoon before getting off at Stratford.

Anyone who sees Kebatu should call 999 immediately, the Met Police said in a statement.

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister David Lammy ordered the selection of candidates to lead an independent investigation into Kebatu’s accidental release.

Additionally, new procedures for prisons will come into force on Monday and will require additional checks in the evening before release takes place.

Duty governors, who are responsible for the safe day-to-day running of the prison, will have to confirm on Monday that the procedure is in place.

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was issued against Kebatu, who was sentenced in September, because the judge accepted that he posed a risk of sexual harm to adult women and children.

Earlier, Essex Police, who handed over leadership of the investigation to the Met at 11.30am on Saturday, said: “It is clear to us that this situation is of human concern and we are determined to find and arrest him as soon as possible.”

It is not clear exactly what led to his release, but prison sources told the BBC HMP Chelmsford prison staff led Kebatu away from the prison and towards the railway station.

A prison officer from HMP Chelmsford has been suspended, but a senior prison employee said the mistake was “probably due to a series of errors due to staff being overworked and under-resourced”.

“It’s not just a prison officer who is to blame. That would be unfair,” they added.

John Podmore, the former governor of HMP Brixton, Belmarsh and Swaleside and a former prison inspector, said the mistake had to be seen “in the wider context of failure”, adding that he hoped “a lower-level official is not thrown under the bus”.

“I am afraid this is what happens in a broken system and the prison system is broken,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Kebatu’s arrest in July It led to protests outside the Bell Hotel in EppingWhere he lived after coming to the UK.

In September Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard Kebatu tried to kiss a young girl on a bench and made several suggestive comments.

The next day he encountered the same girl and tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her. He also sexually assaulted a woman who offered to help him prepare a resume to find a job.

During the trial, Kebatu gave his date of birth as December 1986, which made him 38 years old, although court records showed him to be 41 years old.

he was found guilty of five crimes and was sentenced to 12 months in prison. He was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order banning him from approaching or contacting any female and was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

The court heard it was his “categorical wish” to be deported.

It is not clear where Kebatu was deported, but he is under supervision UK Border Act 2007A deportation order must be made if a foreign national is convicted of a crime and sentenced to at least 12 months in prison.

Kebatu was arrested on July 8 and was mistakenly released 108 days later. He would be entitled to a £76 release payment on release.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the evacuation was “incredibly inadequate”.

“The Conservatives voted against Labor’s prisoner release program because it was sending predators back to our streets,” he said on X.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “He’s walking the streets of Essex right now. Britain is devastated.”

A report from Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service said 262 prisoners were mistakenly released between April 2024 and March 2025, when the number of prisoners in England and Wales was 115 in the previous 12 months.