41 m. ago Hadush Kebatu manhunt LIVE: Met Police urges Epping hotel sex assault convict to turn himself in

Kebatu was freed by mistake at HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre

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45 m. ago Hadush Kebatu manhunt live: Met Police issue update after mistakenly released sex offender ‘takes trains across London’

Metropolitan Police make direct appeal to Hadush Kebatu to hand himself in

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47 m. ago Met take over search for Epping sex offender after a sighting ‘in London area’

Former asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has been missing since being released from prison in errorPolice searching in London for a former asylum seeker and convicted sex offender who was released from prison in error have urged him to hand himself in.The Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was jailed for 12 months in September for sexually assaulting a woman and a 14-year-old girl and made the subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order. Continue reading...

Politics

1 hour ago Asylum seeker released from prison in error seen in London area, police say

Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was accidentally set from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.

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1 hour ago Met police take over search for Epping sex offender after London sighting – as it happened

Met police take over search for Epping sex offender after London sighting – as it happened  The Guardian

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2 h. ago Hadush Kebatu manhunt LIVE: Met Police lead London hunt for Epping hotel sex assault convict freed in error

Kebatu was freed by mistake at HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre

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2 h. ago In just 117 days ‘repulsive’ asylum seeker has sparked national anger and crises

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was convicted of the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl eight days after arriving in the UK.

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2 h. ago Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu manhunt live: Met police take over search for Epping sex offender after London sighting

Commander James Conway says finding Kebatu, whose arrest sparked riots over the summer, is a ‘top priority’The accidental release of the asylum seeker was a “mind-blowing” blunder, says the MP for Chelmsford.The Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman said on Saturday: “My mind has blown. How this could possibly happen?”He came out of the airlock, and kept saying to the officers there, ‘Where am I going? What am I doing? I don’t know where I’m going and what I’m doing.’He was holding a pack of paperwork in his arms, and his bag of bits He knew he’d been deported. He came over to me and said, ‘I need you to help me.’ Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago Met cops take over hunt for missing sex offender asylum seeker

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was jailed for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl before he was mistakenly released - and now remains 'at large in London' with the public urged to call 999 if they spot him

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3 h. ago Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu manhunt live: Met police take over search for sex offender after London sighting

Commander James Conway says finding Kebatu, whose arrest sparked riots over the summer, is a ‘top priority’On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer called the accidental release of Hadush Kebatu “totally unacceptable”, adding:I am appalled that it has happened and it’s being investigated.The police are working urgently to track him down, and my Government is supporting them This man must be caught and deported for his crimes.Let us be clear, we inherited a collapsing prison system in which the last government was releasing people early and which our prisons were overflowing.And, indeed, we have a sentencing bill in parliament seeking to address that issue, and we have stabilised the system. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Asylum seeker who sexually assaulted woman and girl freed from jail by mistake

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was jailed for 12 months in September after sexually assaulting a woman and a 14-year-old girl in Epping, Essex, where he was living in a hotel

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4 h. ago Frantic hunt for freed migrant sex attacker: Net closes in as asylum seeker who assaulted girl, 14, is spotted in London as police reveal where he got off train

Specialist officers from Met Police have launched a massive manhunt for Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 41, who was released in error from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.

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4 h. ago Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu manhunt live: Met Police takes over search for sex offender after London sighting

Cmdr James Conway says finding Kebatu, whose arrest sparked riots over the summer, is a ‘top priority’The number of prisoners released in error more than doubled in the year to March 2025, Government data shows.A report by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) said 262 prisoners were released in error from April 2024 to March 2025, up from 115 in the year to March 2024.We’ve confirmed that Kebatu got off the London-bound train at Stratford station.We are examining CCTV from that area and further afield, including on the transport network, to establish information about his subsequent movements. Continue reading...

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5 h. ago Frantic hunt for freed migrant sex attacker: Net closes in as asylum seeker who assaulted girl, 14, is spotted in London and three police forces scour capital for him

Three police forces are now hunting for Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 41, as they say they are scouring hours of railway station CCTV footage to see if they can track his movements.

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6 h. ago Timeline of events that led up to asylum seeker being released accidentally

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was accidentally released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.

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7 h. ago Asylum seeker released in error seen in London area, police say

Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was accidentally set from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.

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8 h. ago Father of girl, 14, who was assaulted by migrant sex attacker says 'justice system has let us down' as police comb London after asylum seeker was freed by mistake and handed £76 to live on

Police are combing London in search for sex offender Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu who was released from prison by mistake yesterday.

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8 h. ago Migrant Hadush Kebatu 'handed £76 grant as he was accidentally released'

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu is wanted by police

Economics

9 h. ago Asylum seeker sex attacker still at large: Father of girl, 14, who was assaulted by Ethiopian says 'justice system has let us down' as police comb London after he was freed by mistake

Police are combing London in search for sex offender Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu who was released from prison by mistake yesterday.

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10 h. ago Manhunt continues for asylum seeker released from prison by mistake after sexually attacking girl

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu had been staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping

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