Moments after being mistakenly freed by staff at HMP Chelmsford, Epping sex attacker Hadush Kebatu was pointed in the direction of a railway station by guards who told him to ‘go’, it is claimed
Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas News Reporter
21:16, 25 Oct 2025
Convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu, 41, was accidentally released by prison staff just one month after being sentenced(Image: Essex Police/AFP via Getty Image)
The Epping attacker tried to return to prison moments after being freed but was turned away by guards who told him to get on a train, it has been claimed.
Hadush Kebatu – who was jailed for 12 months just a few weeks ago for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Essex – was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday, sparking a massive manhunt across the south east of England. After taking over the search from Essex Police, this afternoon the Met urged the 41-year-old asylum seeker – who was due to be deported back to Ethiopia – to hand himself in.
A man matching his description was spotted in Chelmsford town centre yesterday
A delivery driver who was outside the prison has now described the moment a “confused” Kebatu allegedly questioned staff about why he had been released.
The driver, called Sim, said the convicted sex offender loitered outside the prison for around 90 minutes after being shown out of the gates, and was pointed in the direction of Chelmsford station by guards who told him to “go”.
He told Sky News: “He came out of the airlock, and kept saying to the officers there, ‘Where am I going? What am I doing? I don’t know where I’m going and what I’m doing.
“He knew he’d been deported. He came over to me and said, ‘I need you to help me.’ His English was pretty good.”
Police meanwhile shared that Kebatu has “access to funds” and has “made a number of train journeys” across London since being freed.
It is thought some of this money is cash that was returned to him when he was given his belongings upon leaving prison.
A man matching Kebatu’s description was spotted wearing a prison-issued grey tracksuit, holding a clear plastic bag containing his possessions on Chelmsford High Street yesterday before he is believed to have boarded a London-bound train.
When Hadush Kebatu was jailed for sexually assaulting a woman and a 14-year-old girl near the Bell Hotel in Essex last month, the judge said he posed a “significant risk of reoffending” and placed him under a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which banned him from approaching or contacting any female
Prime Minister Keir Starmer yesterday escribed the release as “totally unacceptable” and said Kebatu “must be caught and deported for his crimes”.
Speaking earlier today, the Met’s Commander James Conway said: “Finding Hadush Kebatu is a top priority.
“The manhunt is being led by an experienced Senior Investigating Officer. He has teams from the Specialist Crime Command with expertise in tracking down wanted people at his disposal, as well as other resources from across the Met.
“We’ve confirmed that Kebatu got off the London-bound train at Stratford station.
“We are examining CCTV from that area and further afield, including on the transport network, to establish information about his subsequent movements.
“We will provide further updates when we can, but I hope the press and the public will understand why it would be unhelpful to the effectiveness of the manhunt if we were to provide a detailed running commentary.
“Anyone who sees Kebatu, or has information about his whereabouts, should call 999 immediately.”
