A convicted child sex offender who arrived in the UK in a small boat and was mistakenly released from prison has been deported, the Home Office says.
Hadush Kebatu arrived in Ethiopia in the early hours after being removed from the UK on a flight with no right to return, a statement said.
His case had come to symbolise the helplessness of the UK to control irregular migration and mounting chaos within the criminal justice.
The Ethiopian national was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.
Kebatu had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, when he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman. After his mistaken release from prison he travelled to London and was arrested on Sunday morning after a two-day manhunt.
The Home Office said Kebatu was removed on a flight to Ethiopia on Tuesday night and arrived on Wednesday morning.
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said: “Last week’s blunder should never have happened – and I share the public’s anger that it did. I would like to thank the police for rapidly bringing Mr Kebatu into custody and the public for their vigilance.
“I have pulled every lever to deport Mr Kebatu and remove him off British soil. I am pleased to confirm this vile child sex offender has been deported. Our streets are safer because of it.”
An asylum seeker who crossed the Channel on a small boat on 29 June, Kebatu was housed in Epping. Eight days after his arrival, he made sexually explicit remarks to a 14-year-old girl who was eating a pizza with her friend in Epping town centre.
The next day, he sexually assaulted a woman, trying to kiss her. He also tried to kiss the same 14-year-old girl he had made remarks to the day before, having encountered her again by chance.
The allegations led to public disorder outside the hotel in Epping, which became a flashpoint between far-right activists and anti-racism campaigners. It also led to a series of protests outside hotels across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Kebatu was found guilty of two sexual assaults, harassing the girl, inciting her to engage in sexual activity and an attempted sexual assault and was sentenced to 12 months in prison in September followed by deportation. At his trial, he said he wished to be deported.
He was accidentally released from prison on Friday morning when he was supposed to be removed to an immigration detention centre.
At the entrance of the prison, a delivery driver saw Kebatu returning to the prison multiple times over an hour and a half, “confused”, only to be turned away. He reportedly told prison officers that he was supposed to be deported, but was told to go towards the town centre.
Police officers eventually pointed him towards the train station, reports claimed. He was captured on Sunday morning in Finsbury Park, north London.
Kebatu’s wrongful release has been “hugely damaging to public trust” and people deserve a “full answer” as to how the blunder happened, Marie Goldman, the MP for Chelmsford, has said.
David Lammy, the justice secretary, has announced an inquiry and blamed “human error” for the incident. A discharging manager has been suspended from duties while the inquiry concludes.
Goldman, a Liberal Democrat, said: “Whilst I am relieved that this saga is over and Hadush Kebatu has finally been deported, this doesn’t excuse the catastrophic failures that led to this point.
“It is utterly unacceptable that public safety was put at risk. This was a grave mistake, and my constituents now deserve a full answer as to how such a serious failure was allowed to happen.
“The findings of the independent investigation into what happened must not be brushed aside. This has been hugely damaging to public trust. We cannot afford another blunder on such a scale.”
