A migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison was seen by a delivery driver “returning four or five times” to the reception, as he hung around outside for around “an hour and a half”.
Hadush Kebatu was jailed for 12 months in September for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and another woman. The former asylum seeker, who had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping, was due to be deported, but on Friday he was released from HMP Chelmsford by error.
The Met Police is now leading the manhunt for the 38-year-old, with searches centred on London where the last confirmed sighting of him was in Dalston, Hackney, on Friday evening. A still from CCTV footage has been issued of him inside a library in Dalston Square at 6pm.
On Saturday, as police chiefs made a direct appeal to Kebatu, an interview was aired by Sky News with a delivery driver who said he spoke to him while delivering a fridge at the time of his release.
The driver, Sim, said Kebatu knew he was supposed to be deported and kept asking prison staff “what to do”, returning to the prison reception “four or five times”.
“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,’” Sim told Sky News.
“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.’”
Sim said that a member of prison staff “told him that he had to get on a train” and directed Kebatu to Chelmsford station to catch a train to London, telling him: “You’re released, you’re released.”
Sim said Kebatu waited outside the prison for roughly “an hour and a half” before leaving.
“He kept scratching his head and saying, ‘Where do I go, where do I go?’
“The fourth or fifth time [he went into the reception] he was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed. I’m not sticking up for the guy, but in my eyes, he was trying to do the right thing. He knew he was getting deported, but he didn’t know where he was going or how he should get there.”
A prison officer has been taken off duties to discharge prisoners while an investigation is underway.
Videos circulated online appeared to show a man resembling Kebatu in Chelmsford town centre shortly after his release, wearing a grey tracksuit and carrying a plastic bag.
In an update on Saturday, police said Kebatu has access to funds and had made several train journeys across London.
Detectives say he got off a train at Stratford, with CCTV later catching him in Dalston Square, where he was seen carrying his belongings in a distinctive white bag with pictures of avocados on it. He was last seen in the area at 8pm, the Met said.
Commander James Conway, who is leading the manhunt, urged Kebatu to give himself up. He said: “We believe he has access to funds, and critically, in both Chelmsford and London, we believe he has sought assistance from members of the public, and has spoken to station staff.”
He added: “I am making a direct appeal to Mr Kebatu. We want to locate you in a safe and controlled way.
“You had already indicated a desire to return to Ethiopia when speaking to immigration staff.
“The best outcome for you is to make contact directly with us by either calling 999 or reporting yourself to a police station.”
The Independent contacted the Ministry of Justice which referred a request for a statement to deputy prime minister David Lammy, who earlier said he was “livid on behalf of the public”.
He added: “I spoke to the home secretary today. I have launched an investigation into what has happened in the prison service to allow this to come about.
“But the important thing is that we protect the public. The important thing is that the police are able to do their work and find this individual.”
During the trial at which Kebatu was convicted of sexually assaulting a girl, it was heard how he told two teenagers he wanted to “have a baby with each of them” and attempted to kiss them, before going on to put his hand on one of the girls’ thighs and stroke her hair.
He was also found to have sexually assaulted a woman by trying to kiss her, putting his hand on her leg and telling her she was pretty.
Kebatu was found guilty of five offences following his three-day trial at Chelmsford and Colchester magistrates’ courts.
