Image Credit: Essex Police 
An African migrant who sexually assaulted an English girl, sparking nationwide protests, was “accidentally” released from jail on Friday, just a month into his sentence.
Ethiopian migrant Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu propositioned and groped a child in Epping, Essex just days after he arrived in the UK by boat, causing massive protests against the government’s policy of housing migrants in hotels.
Kebatu was sentenced to one year in prison for two counts of sexual assault and one count of inciting a child to sexual activity, last month.
However, he was released from HMS Chelmsford on Friday morning, in an apparent mix-up.
Sky News reported that he was due to picked up from the jail by Border Force, pending a deportation flight out of the country.
How he was released has not been established, but a prison office has been relieved from duty while an investigation takes place.
Kebatu was seem wandering around Chelmsford on Friday after leaving jail, before boarding a train to London.
Essex Police were made aware of the error at 12.57 on Friday afternoon, shortly after Kebatu boarded the train. They told The Sun they were engaged in “fast-paced enquiries” and said “we have officers working to urgently locate and detain him.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the “mistake” totally unacceptable and said he was appalled.
“This man must be caught and deported for his crimes,” he said.
Kebatu’s assault on a child last summer, while he lived in a so-called “migrant hotel,” was the catalyst for a wave of protests that spread across England and Wales, as local vented their anger about the housing of migrants in their communities.
