Manhunt after asylum seeker who abused girl, 14, is freed 'by mistake'

POLICE will be given any support they need to hunt down a paedophile asylum seeker who was accidentally released from prison, Sir Keir Starmer pledged last night.

- By Matt Clemenson

Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, who had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, was jailed for 12 months in September for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

Essex Police said “fast-paced enquiries have shown that the man boarded a London-bound train at Chelmsford” yesterday. A video of a man matching Kebatu’s description was taken at the railway station.

He was meant to be sent to an immigration detention centre to be deported but was freed by mistake.