0h 13min, oct 26, 2025 y - Sex Offender Mistakenly Released from Prison

Description:

A migrant sex offender mistakenly released from an Essex prison was last seen in east London on Friday evening, the Metropolitan Police has said.

Hadush Kebatu was spotted shortly before 20:00 in the Dalston area of Hackney, and extra police have been sent to the area as the search for the Ethiopian national enters a third day.

He was also picked up on CCTV at a library in Dalston Square around two hours earlier wearing a prison-issue grey tracksuit and carrying a white bag with pictures of avocados on it.

Kebatu was set free from HMP Chelmsford in error four weeks after being sentenced for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, Essex, while staying at an asylum hotel.

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