Four More Prisoners Mistakenly Released in the Past Week

Four other inmates have been wrongly released from custody in the past week, following the mistaken release of a convicted sex offender from HMP Chelmsford.

Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was freed from the Essex prison on Friday instead of being transferred to an immigration detention centre. The migrant sex offender — who had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping when he assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman — travelled to London after his release. He was recaptured in Finsbury Park on Sunday morning following a two-day manhunt.

The incident has prompted an independent inquiry, and one prison officer has been suspended.

Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officers' Association (POA), said Kebatu's case was not isolated and that four other prisoners had also been mistakenly released over the past seven days — from HMP Pentonville in north London, HMP Durham, HMP The Mount in Hertfordshire, and Reading Crown Court.

"All but one" of the prisoners have since been returned to custody, he said, adding that no officers had been suspended in those cases.

Government figures published in July show that 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025 — a 128 per cent rise on the previous year's total of 115.

Mr Fairhurst blamed inadequate staff training and confusion caused by recent changes to release-date calculations introduced to ease prison overcrowding. "It is a confusing time for everyone," he said. "Somewhere along the line, a mistake was made — from processing paperwork in the offender management unit to the final discharge checks."

Justice Secretary David Lammy told MPs on Monday that Kebatu had been due to be deported under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) for foreign national offenders, but was released "as a result of human error." He said new mandatory release checks were being implemented immediately to prevent further mistakes.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson added: "Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. Alongside building more prison places and reforming sentencing, we have introduced stronger release verification procedures."

The Johnson Partnership, Nottingham