Watch: Moment Kebatu is arrested in Finsbury Park
Extra checks will be carried out in prisons across England and Wales from Monday after a migrant sex offender was released in error last week.
The government has ordered governors to carry out new procedures to avoid a repeat of Hadush Kebatu’s mistaken release from HMP Chelmsford on Friday, which led to a manhunt and his eventual arrest in London on Sunday.
Justice Secretary David Lammy will face questions on Monday after updating Parliament on an independent inquiry into how Kebatu was set free rather than deported.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Kebatu will be deported “imminently” and suggested it would happen within a few days.
The extra checks have been criticised by senior prison staff, who told BBC News they will increase workload and put more pressure on a system already struggling to cope.
Kebatu’s release has led to renewed focus on the state of HM Prison Service, which the government has described as “broken”.
The number of prisoners who have been released mistakenly has risen sharply, with 262 let out in error between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 115 over the same period a year earlier.
Charlie Taylor, HM chief inspector of prisons, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme “something is going badly wrong” with the prison system, pointing to the rising number of mistaken releases.
Asked about the new checklist prison staff will need to follow before releasing an inmate, Mr Taylor said it had not been shared with him in full so he could not say if it was propor
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