Prisons to begin extra checks after asylum seeker debacle
Lammy expected to announce inquiry into asylum seeker release
- Prisons will implement enhanced checks for inmate releases after Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker convicted of sexual assault, was mistakenly freed instead of being transferred to an immigration detention centre.
- Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was wrongly released from HMP Chelmsford and travelled to London before being re-arrested in Finsbury Park on Sunday morning.
- Justice Secretary David Lammy is expected to announce an independent inquiry into the incident and has said that Kebatu will be deported this week after police questioning.
- Kebatu was jailed for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman shortly after arriving in the UK via a small boat.
- The incident has sparked political condemnation, with government figures revealing a 128 per cent increase in prisoners released in error in the year to March 2025.