Sex assault migrant released from prison by mistake was PAID £500 in taxpayer cash to leave Britain

An immigrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison was given £500 in taxpayer money to leave the UK.

Footage taken from Heathrow Airport shows the moment 38-year-old Hadush Kebatu was boarded on a plane to Ethiopia last night.

He was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning after serving just one month of a one-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

It is understood a ‘discretionary’ payment of £500 was made to Kebatu by the Home Office.

Sources said the money was transferred due to Kebatu’s threat to ‘disrupt’ the transport flight.

He was forcibly deported from Britain by a team of five security guards.

Kebatu was supposed to be transferred to a deportation center last week, but unsuspecting prison officers repeatedly told him to leave and take a train to London instead.

Ethiopian citizen who came to England on a small boat He was eventually arrested in North London on Sunday morning after a two-day manhunt.

HE Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was photographed swearing he would be ‘deported’ as he was detained by four officers in Finsbury Park.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed that Kebatu was taken on a flight to Ethiopia last night and arrived this morning.

A source said the decision to pay £500 to the sex offender was designed to save the taxpayer wider costs, including detention, new flight tickets and legal fees if he lodged a legal challenge against his dismissal.

They suggested the alternative might be ‘slower and more expensive’.

The source added that ministers were not involved in the decision to pay the sum.

Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood said: ‘Last week’s blunder should never have happened and I share the public’s anger about it.

Kebatu photographed on plane to Ethiopia while being deported without right to return to UK

Footage taken from Heathrow Airport shows the moment 38-year-old Kebatu was boarded the plane last night.

The moment Kebatu (second from left) was arrested by Met Police officers in Finsbury Park, north London

‘I would like to thank the police and the public’s sensitivity for quickly detaining Mr. Kebatu.

‘I used every available tool to deport Mr Kebatu and remove him from British territory. I am pleased to confirm that this despicable child sex offender has been deported.

‘In this way, our streets are safer. ‘If you come to this country and commit a crime, we will remove you.’

It is ‘unacceptable’ that a prisoner is released without checks to ensure it is correct, a minister has said.

Border Security Minister Alex Norris was told on Sky News that the situation was ‘unbelievable’ and he responded: ‘This is unacceptable.

‘That’s why we were so angry about it, that’s why we put in these changes.’

However, he added that he could not confirm whether Hadush Kebatu received cash payment to return to Ethiopia.

Alex Norris said ministers were ‘not involved in operational moves’ such as those that took place overnight and declined to comment on any cash payments the criminal received.

CCTV footage released by the Metropolitan Police (pictured) shows Hadush Kebatu in Dalston, London, on Friday night

Neil Hudson, Conservative MP for Epping Forest, said he was ‘very relieved’ by Kebatu’s deportation but ‘this has not gone away for the people of Epping’.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Nobody wants to see our home town as the main story, so this is incredibly frustrating and the Government needs to take action as soon as possible.

He reiterated calls for the Bell Hotel to cease housing asylum seekers, adding: ‘There are significant management and safeguarding issues related to this hotel, and actually what we need to see is that the hotel needs to be closed.

‘This is the wrong hotel in the wrong place, right next to the forest, right next to two schools.’

Kebatu, whose crimes sparked protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping and across the country, left prison with a small amount of personal cash.

He was first seen speaking to the public in Chelmsford before boarding the train to London at 12.41pm on Friday.

CCTV later showed Kebatu in the Dalston area of ​​Hackney just before 8pm that evening.

He was also picked up from a library in Dalston Square about two hours earlier, wearing a prison gray tracksuit and carrying a white tote bag containing an avocado.

His movements on Saturday are unclear but the Met Police today confirmed he was captured in Finsbury Park on Sunday morning, three days after he was mistakenly released.

In the photo of his arrest, Kebatu, who had access to money, is seen wearing jeans, a puffer jacket and a hood over his head, having managed to change into his prison tracksuit.

The footage shows him being put into the back of a police van.

It turned out that prison officers told Kebatu that he had to go to the repatriation center on his own.

A delivery driver told Sky News: ‘I heard one of the officers say: ‘This is how you get to the station, you get off here…’ [he] He directed him to the station and said he had to take the train to get here… This conversation was in front of the prison.’

What caused further insecurity last night was when Kebatu spent more than 90 minutes outside the prison because he did not know ‘where to go or what to do’.

The driver who delivered the equipment to the prison said:'[The officers] Actually, we were sending him away saying, ‘Go, you are released, go.’

The debacle has left Labor facing new questions about its handling of the immigration crisis.

It comes amid a backlash against efforts to tackle illegal immigration, as a man deported under France’s ‘one in, one out’ scheme re-crossed the Channel on a small boat and landed on British shores.

Conservative MP for Epping Forest, Neil Hudson, described Kebatu’s release as a “devastating mistake” that left the whole community “deeply upset, saddened and angry”, adding that “accountability must reach the highest level”.

According to the driver, even after his release, Kebatu continued to go ‘back and forth’ to the prison reception area asking for help and showed staff a ream of paperwork regarding his case.

Video footage (above) shows Kebatu in Chelmsford town center asking locals for directions.

Footage taken on Sunday morning shows Kebatu being spoken to by officers and arrested in Finsbury Park.

Footage shows Kebatu being put into the back of a police van after being arrested in Finsbury Park.

“I’m not defending this guy, but in my eyes he wanted to do the right thing and go to the right place,” he said.

‘He knew he was going to be deported but didn’t know where to go or how to get there. He was constantly scratching his head and asking, ‘Where will I go, where will I go?’ he said.

“You were released, you were released,” he said, adding that the officers had no intention of helping him.

Kebatu was sentenced to one year in prison last month for attacking his 14-year-old victim. During his trial Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard he had acted ‘ignorantly and disgustingly’.

Even though the immigrant knew that she was ‘only 14 years old’, he got excited when he put his hand on the girl’s hips and caressed her hair. He said he wanted to have a baby with her and invited her back to The Bell Hotel, where he lived.

Kebatu then tried to kiss a woman who tried to intervene, then put his hand on her leg and told her she was beautiful.

The asylum seeker gave his age as 38 when he appeared in court, but the judge said he had seen information showing that he was 41 years old.

Met Police Commander James Conway called on Kebatu to surrender, saying: ‘We want to locate you in a safe and controlled manner.

‘You had already expressed your desire to return to Ethiopia when speaking to immigration staff. The best outcome for you is to contact us directly.’

He said the asylum seeker had made ‘a number of journeys’ in London since his release on Friday and had ‘access to funds’.