Another prisoner could be mistakenly freed from jail again if the government does not undertake a “systematic” inquiry into how a migrant sex offender was wrongly released, criminal justice experts have warned.
Hadush Kebatu, who was jailed for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday in an error that has sparked widespread condemnation. A prison officer has been suspended while a probe takes place, with the government set to announce an independent inquiry.
Experts have now claimed that mistakes in the release of inmates happens “all the time” and is symptomatic of the chaos within the prison system, which has suffered from overcrowding, lack of investment, poor staff retention and delayed government decision-making.
Richard Gareside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, told The Independent: “People need to be held accountable for mistakes, but the underlying context is that this is a prison system in crisis.
“If they [the government] don’t do a systematic look at what’s gone wrong, then I suspect it won’t be long before we have another of these kinds of incidents.”
Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, described the case as “enormously concerning”, adding: “But I think it’s symptomatic of the chaos that we’re seeing within the system, where the number of prisoners who were released early has gone up.”
He added: “This is an endemic problem now within the prison service and it’s a structural problem that needs to be fixed by the leadership of the prison service, and it won’t just get fixed by individual prisons and prison governors.”
Ethiopian national Kebatu, who was jailed for 12 months in September, was released instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre. He was arrested again on Sunday in Finsbury Park, London, after a two-day manhunt.
His initial arrest for the sex offence had led to protests and counter-protests on the streets in Epping, where he was living in asylum accommodation, and eventually outside hotels housing asylum seekers across the country.
Mr Taylor said “serious mistakes” were made at HMP Chelmsford, which is a “very busy” reception prison, while an inspection at HMP Pentonville and unpublished findings at HMP Birmingham show “serious anomalies” of sentence calculations going on there too.
“I suspect this is common to many of these sorts of very busy Victorian reception prisons who were just under a huge amount of strain,” the chief prisons inspector said.
“I think it’s very easy to throw an individual at Chelmsford under the bus for this, but this is a systemic problem and the prison service needs to take some responsibility as well for failing to fix this issue, which has got much, much worse in the last couple of years.”
One consultant with Prison Consultants, who did not wish to be named, said the root of the problems now facing the prison system reaches back decades.
He cited changes in criminal law and sentencing guidelines, which have led to more offences and tougher sentences, combined with cuts to prison staff and probation services as well as an insufficient number of new prisons. Activities that prisoners can do within jails have also been stripped back, he added, while prisons have not been maintained, with, for example, rat and cockroach infestations common.
“Now we have fewer prison officers, more prisoners, more prisoners with nothing to do, and lots of prisons that are run-down,” he said, blaming “a long history of governments ignoring the prison service because it’s not a vote winner”.
He saw a clear link between the neglect of the justice system and what happened with Kebatu, even saying that the incident is not uncommon.
“This person was obviously released in error – this happens quite a lot,” he said. “An officer under pressure gets a name mixed up, numbers mixed up, they’re released by mistake – it does happen. It’s human error.
“I sympathise with officers – lots of them are doing a hard job under very difficult conditions.”
Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, suggested the error in Kebatu’s case could have been down to the Home Office, speculating that the need for him to be deported might not have been flagged on his paperwork.
“Something has gone wrong with communication – both the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice have questions to answer,” she said.
The Home Office said it will not be commenting on speculation on the process of arrangements.
According to government figures published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025 – a 128 per cent increase on 115 the previous 12 months.
Housing secretary Steve Reed told broadcasters on Monday morning that he shared their “frustration and fury”, but insisted there had been no change in policy under Labour that had led to the rise.
Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said she was “absolutely shocked” at the “sheer levels of incompetence” that led to Kebatu’s mistaken release.
Meanwhile, the father of Kebatu’s teenage victim said he hopes the sex offender will be “deported immediately” – which the Mr Lammy said should happen this week.
