New jails farce exposed: Criminal was on the run for 579 DAYS after being wrongly freed, while another prison ‘mixed up father and son with the same name’

A new report has laid bare bizarre cases of prisoners being mistakenly released from prison, including a criminal who was on the run for 579 days.

An official investigation has revealed new details of a series of shocking errors, including cases where prisoners went on to commit new crimes after being mistakenly released.

The report focused on the mistaken release of sex offender Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford last October.

It highlighted a long list of failings that led to small-boat migrant Kebatu being released on a 12-month prison sentence after just one month for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, Essex.

The crimes occurred while he was being held at the town’s Bell Hotel at taxpayers’ expense, sparking a series of anti-immigration protests.

Justice Minister David Lammy has been strongly criticized for his handling of the Kebatu incident and the release of other prisoners.

The new report, by former National Crime Agency boss Dame Lynne Owens, found a series of unsatisfactory verdicts in the Kebatu case, as well as human error and shortcomings in technology and prison policies.

Dame Lynne also revealed a number of other cases for the first time.

An unnamed prisoner was mistakenly released from HMP Altcourse in Liverpool due to a ‘disruption in the flow of information’ when calculating his release date.

‘Originally convicted of burglary, burglary with intent to steal and driving while disqualified, the offender was mistakenly released and remained unlawfully at large for 579 days, during which time a further offense was committed,’ the report said.

In other cases, one released felon was unlawfully at large for 255 days, during which time he committed an additional crime, and the other was on the run for 230 days.

Dame Lynne also highlighted the case of a man who was convicted of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and handling stolen goods and was wrongly released in December 2024.

The prison failed to realize he was in prison for multiple convictions and remained free for 174 days.

Ethiopian sex offender Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly released in October, sparking controversy over Labor’s record on law and order.

During this time, he committed the new crime of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

In another case, two defendants with the same name, father and son, were ‘confused by the prison because the date of birth was not stated correctly in the bail documents sent by the court’.

The son was due to be released but HMP Elmley in Kent released the father instead.

The report stated, ‘The date of birth of the son was stated in the bail documents… but this was overlooked by the prison and therefore they released the father.’

The unnamed father, who was sentenced to prison for robbery and theft, was released for five days.

Dame Lynne Owens’s report, commissioned by the Government last year, revealed a number of new cases of prisoners being released by mistake and repeated errors at the Prison Service.

In October last year, a defendant awaiting trial for ‘sending communications threatening death or serious harm’ was mistakenly released from HMP Peterborough after a court clerk incorrectly recorded his bail details. He was on the run for 40 days.

Dame Lynne has made 33 recommendations to improve the way prison releases are handled.

Mr Lammy accepted all 33 ‘in principle’ and announced an £82 million package to ‘block false publications’, including moves to abandon old paper-based records.

It will include ‘a single digital ID for every person entering the prison system’ to prevent misidentification of inmates and track them through the system.

Data published today from the Ministry of Justice showed that 179 prisoners were mistakenly released in England and Wales in the year to March; From 262 inmates in the previous 12 months, this was still above the 115 inmates seen in the previous year.

Mr Lammy promises to reduce ‘publishing errors to as close to zero as possible’

‘This independent review makes clear that the unacceptable increase in the release of errors is due to a broken system resulting from 14 years of underinvestment and overcrowding in our prisons and courts,’ he said.

‘Today we are taking action to bring the prison system into the 21st century.’

Epping sex attack victim, 14, learned about prison’s early release mistake on social media

The schoolgirl victim of Epping sex offender Hadush Kebatu learned of his release from a post on social media hours before she was officially notified by authorities.

Dame Lynne Owens’ report stated that the 14-year-old boy known as ‘Victim A’ and a woman who was sexually assaulted by the Ethiopian immigrant were not informed until hours after the mistake.

Hadush Kebatu, photographed in his gray prison tracksuit, was mistakenly filmed by a member of the public in Chelmsford town center hours after he was released from prison. His 14-year-old victim learned of the Prison Service’s mistake on social media hours before he was officially notified

“By this point, social media news had reached at least one of the victims,” ​​the report said.

Kebatu was released from HMP Chelmsford at 10.35am on October 24 last year.

That afternoon he was filmed in Chelmsford town center by a man asking for directions – clips were posted online – and Kebatu boarded a train to London at 12.42pm.

Essex Police contacted victim A’s mother at 5.04pm to alert them to the error.

He added: ‘Victim A’s father claimed Victim A posted and watched a video of Mr Kebatu on social media to the community before being contacted by the prison or the police.’

Dame Lynne’s report said Kebatu’s release had a ‘profound and harmful impact on both the victim and his family’.

‘They described the experience as ‘re-traumatising’.

“Victim A’s father described his fear that Mr. Kebatu might have encountered his daughter again if he was released by mistake, and that he knew what might happen,” the statement said.

Dame Lynne found there was ‘no official policy’ on contacting victims when a wrongful discharge occurs.

He recommended that the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office speak ‘urgently’ to victims’ groups to ‘develop a clear policy’, including when and how victims will be informed.

Kebatu was finally arrested in north London after a three-day manhunt. He was deported.