LONDON — London police said Sunday they arrested a convicted sex offender and asylum-seeker who was mistakenly released from prison in a blunder that has embarrassed the government.
The Metropolitan Police said Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was arrested in the Finsbury Park area in north London. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would be deported as soon as possible.
Before he was released in error, Kebatu had already been in the national news because his arrest earlier this year over the sexual assault of a teenage girl triggered a wave of angry anti-migrant protests in London and other cities.
Authorities said they were alerted Friday afternoon that Kebatu was released by mistake at a prison in Chelmsford, Essex, and was seen catching a London-bound train there. British media reported that he was wrongly categorized as a prisoner due to be released, instead of being sent to an immigration detention center.
The migrant was sentenced in September to 12 months in prison for five offenses, including the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in July in Epping, on the outskirts of London, just over a week after he had arrived in England by boat.
Thousands of people protested outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, northeast of London, where he was staying along with other newly arrived migrants. Multiple protests targeting other hotels housing migrants followed in British cities and towns, with some demonstrations attended by far-right activists and spilling into disorder.
The group Stand Up to Racism also rallied in counterprotests.
The Prison Service said prison officer has been removed from discharging duties while an investigation takes place.
Government officials have described the mistaken release as an "egregious failure." Justice Secretary David Lammy said he ordered prisoner release checks to be strengthened immediately, and an investigation will find out what went wrong and who was accountable.
"This man was behind bars because of serious sex offenses," Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News Sunday before Kebatu's arrest. "He is not meant to be in this country. In fact, what was supposed to be happening is he was meant to be transferred for deportation. So the idea that he's loose on our streets is incredibly serious. It is a serious failure."
The issue of unauthorized migration — especially the tens of thousands of migrants crossing the English Channel in overloaded boats to reach the U.K. — has risen to the top of the political agenda in Britain.
More than 36,900 people have made the dangerous crossing from France to the U.K. so far this year, figures show, surpassing the total number recorded in the whole of 2024. Efforts by authorities in Britain, France and other countries to crack down on people smuggling gangs or deter migrants from coming have so far been unsuccessful.
The government's policy of using hotels to house migrants who are awaiting a decision on their asylum status has also come under heavy criticism.
