Ministers were warned of errors at jail that released sex offender by mistake | Prisons and probation

Ministers have been warned by a watchdog that inmates are “falling through the cracks” of chaotic prison release procedures that led to the mistaken release of a man convicted of child sex offenses.

One annual report At HMP Chelmsford it revealed “a number of problems and errors”, including a “confusion of release dates” when releasing a vulnerable prisoner.

The Essex facility is at the center of the investigation after Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu was accidentally released despite being convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman, days after arriving in the UK on a small boat.

The emergence of the report published by the prison’s independent monitoring board [IMB] A report sent to prisons minister James Timpson in December will raise new questions about who should be held responsible for the debacle.

Kebatu was mistakenly released from prison a week ago Friday when he was supposed to be taken to an immigration detention center. He was arrested in North London on Sunday and deported to Addis Ababa on Wednesday after being given a discretionary payment of £500.

HMP Chelmsford’s release processes were examined following a complaint from an “extremely stressed” vulnerable prisoner who was given no information about where he could live or how to contact his probation officer just hours before his release, according to the IMB report.

“During the investigation, we discovered a number of issues and errors that led to this situation: officers’ failure to collect the prisoner for a release process briefing; the cancellation of a rearranged release process briefing because it clashed with a knife awareness course; and confusion over release dates.

“While we must assume these examples are rare, we urge those involved to update their processes to prevent prisoners from being ‘missed’,” the report said.

Prisoners must be given help and advice “in the last 12 weeks of their sentence”. According to the Ministry of Justice website.

Timpson wrote a two-page letter in response to the report but did not address the issue of evacuation procedures. “I note that you raised some issues of local concern in your report and the governor will continue to keep you informed as the study continues,” Timpson wrote.

Asylum seeker Kebatu, who crossed the English Channel on a small boat on 29 June, was placed at the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex. Eight days after his arrival, he made sexually explicit remarks to a 14-year-old girl who was eating pizza with her friend in Epping town centre.

The next day, he sexually assaulted a woman and tried to kiss her. He also tried to kiss the 14-year-old girl he had met by chance the day before.

The allegations sparked public unrest outside the hotel in Epping, which has become a flashpoint between far-right activists and anti-racism campaigners. It also sparked protests outside hotels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

At the entrance to the prison, Kebatu was observed only to be turned away by a delivery driver who returned to the prison “confused” several times in the course of an hour and a half. He reportedly told prison officers he needed to be deported but was told to go downtown.

Former Met police assistant commissioner Lynne Owens is heading up the investigation into why Kebatu was wrongly released. Justice Secretary David Lammy blamed “human error” after a single staff member was dismissed. The prison officers’ union and prisons watchdog have warned ministers against scapegoating prison staff for a systemic problem.

The suspended staff member was responsible for reviewing the paperwork to ensure the correct prisoner was released under the correct conditions. However, it turned out that the manager was checking documents processed by more senior staff.

The Ministry of Justice refused to disclose whether the ministry had corrected the deficiencies highlighted in the report due to the ongoing investigation.

Lammy said: “Any incorrect discharge is one too many. That’s why I took immediate action to put in place the strongest discharge controls ever and launched an independent investigation to get to the bottom of what went wrong.”