A policing minister has defended the decision to give £500 to a migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison after he threatened to disrupt his deportation flight.
Sarah Jones said removing him from the flight and taking him back into custody would have cost thousands of pounds, which is why the choice was made that it was “better to get him out of our country”.
“And that was the choice, galling, though that is … I hope people understand that that was the choice they faced, and that was the right thing to do,” she told Sky News.
She added: “So it sticks in the throat, right? I get that. It does for me. It does for most people.”
Hadush Kebatu was forcibly removed to his home country on Tuesday night with a team of five escorts on the flight, and arrived on Wednesday morning with no right to return to Britain, according to the Home Office.
Downing Street said he had attempted to apply for a “facilitated return scheme,” which under successive governments has offered foreign nationals resettlement grants of up to £1,500, but the bid was denied.
However, after threatening to disrupt the deportation flight he was given £500.
Ms Jones said it would have cost at least £10,000 to remove him from the commercial flight and book him on another one.
“So the choice was £500 versus £10,000 and I think in terms of use of taxpayers’ money, that was the right decision to make,” she told LBC.
She said it was not “a new thing” to make such payments.
“I think there has always been a system where some payments are sometimes made in order to get people on the planes and get them out of the country. I don’t think that is a new thing.”
She said she expected an inquiry launched by David Lammy on how Kebatu was mistakenly released from prison would report back “within a few months max”.
It is understood that Kebatu, who crossed the Channel in a small boat to enter the UK on June 29, left prison on Friday with some personal money but did not receive a discharge grant.
Ministers did not approve the £500 payment made to him upon his deportation, which was an operational decision, it is understood.
