Search for migrant sex offender cost police £150k

The manhunt for a migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison cost police forces more than £150,000, a review has found.

Hadush Kebatu was freed in error from HMP Chelmsford in October, prompting an urgent three-day search.

A review by former Met Police deputy commissioner Dame Lynne Owens called the blunder a "symptom of a broken system".

Kebatu had been living at The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, when he was charged with and later jailed for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman.

He was serving a one-year sentence but was deported to Ethiopia after being re-arrested in north London on 26 October.

The case sparked a wave of protests outside the venue during the summer and led to some clashes between demonstrators and the police.

Searching for Kebatu cost Essex Police and the Met a combined £152,738, with officers from both forces working extra hours to locate the fugitive, according to Dame Lynne's review.

Most officers at the Essex force worked an extra five to seven hours beyond their scheduled shifts, with some working 17-hour days.

At the Met, 1,178 officer and staff hours were used, and two days of searching cost £72,082.

Essex Police spent £80,656.

Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "The mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu was a shocking failure, exposing a criminal justice system under such strain that it had failed in its most basic duty."

The review also found 179 prisoners were freed in error in the year to March.

Justice Secretary David Lammy said its findings made clear the "unacceptable" rise in mistaken releases.

He insisted the government would "bring the prison system into the 21st Century."

Trials of biometric fingerprint and facial recognition in prisons were due to begin within six months, Lammy added.

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