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Original poster

Kebatu wasn't really "on the run"

116 replies

Pebbles16 · 27/10/2025 18:41

This is annoying me because the media keep saying he was on the run but - as far as I can tell - he was let out under very strange circumstances (in prison tracksuit etc), is not a native English speaker and probably didn't have a complete understanding of what was happening.
At what point would a mistakenly released prisoner say "I think you have made a mistake"? Particularly one with limited understanding of the criminal justice system.
The crime he committed was terrible and I am glad he is being deported, but his mistaken release was not his fault and he didn't really go "on the run", just got on with the situation he was presented with.

OP posts:
mammabing · 27/10/2025 18:45

Agreed to a certain extent. I read somewhere that he returned to the police station a few time asking where to go but they sent him away.
However, I think he must’ve known they were looking for him at some point in those 48 hours or so he was gone, especially when the media got involved. Once he realised he could’ve handed himself in.

LadyKenya · 27/10/2025 18:54

How would he know? Was he at home watching the news? He seemed to have no idea where he was, and was released without a clue where to go.

PrizedPickledPopcorn · 27/10/2025 18:55

He tried 4 times not to be let out of prison. Kept going back to the prison but was sent on his way repeatedly.

ShenandoahRiver · 27/10/2025 18:56

He went back to the prison reception area several times and asked what he should to. He was told to go the train station.

soupyspoon · 27/10/2025 18:56

mammabing · 27/10/2025 18:45

Agreed to a certain extent. I read somewhere that he returned to the police station a few time asking where to go but they sent him away.
However, I think he must’ve known they were looking for him at some point in those 48 hours or so he was gone, especially when the media got involved. Once he realised he could’ve handed himself in.

Im not sure that sounds particularly realistic, how would he know what to do and what was going on? Did he know he was 'wanted'?

He had been legitimately released as far as he knew surely?

ShenandoahRiver · 27/10/2025 18:57

This was not his fault. I read that the discharge officer has been taken off duty.

ShenandoahRiver · 27/10/2025 18:57

@soupyspoon
Exactly. He was given his belongings in a plastic bag.

NotForTheMoneyandNotForTheApplause · 27/10/2025 18:58

mammabing · 27/10/2025 18:45

Agreed to a certain extent. I read somewhere that he returned to the police station a few time asking where to go but they sent him away.
However, I think he must’ve known they were looking for him at some point in those 48 hours or so he was gone, especially when the media got involved. Once he realised he could’ve handed himself in.

How must he have known? By what mechanism would he have found out that information?

LadyKenya · 27/10/2025 18:59

This also highlights the lack of care for a prisoner, who was confused, and had nowhere to go, being sent off like that. This is not the first prisoner that has been released like this, in error.

BingBongBish · 27/10/2025 19:00

I don't really see how he could've known unless he had a smart phone on him and saw the headlines.

Even then, reading English might be difficult for him.

mammabing · 27/10/2025 19:00

His face kept appearing whenever I logged into the news apps on my phone so I just assumed it’d be on the front covers of the papers too. To be honest I don’t read them so perhaps I’m mistaken.

Itwouldbesonice · 27/10/2025 19:01

A witness said he saw him return to the prison several times asking where to go. He obviously knew it didn’t seem right but didn’t know what to do.

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 27/10/2025 19:01

I don’t think that was really the crux of the story though was it. Yes it was hyperbole by the tabloids, but the real story was the huge incompetence between the Home Office and the prison staff and highlighting just how shambolic the system is.

ShenandoahRiver · 27/10/2025 19:02

@mammabing
Do you think he was reading papers and watching the news?

largeprintagathachristie · 27/10/2025 19:03

Agree.
And part of the reason he was difficult to track was that he didn’t have a mobile phone.

So not sure how he was meant to “know” he was being sought - a previous poster says he should have worked it out from the media coverage. (That he wouldn’t have seen.)

LadyKenya · 27/10/2025 19:03

mammabing · 27/10/2025 19:00

His face kept appearing whenever I logged into the news apps on my phone so I just assumed it’d be on the front covers of the papers too. To be honest I don’t read them so perhaps I’m mistaken.

He was confused, and had no idea what to do, or where to go. I hardly think that he was concerned with buying a copy of the daily mail.

mammabing · 27/10/2025 19:04

ShenandoahRiver · 27/10/2025 19:02

@mammabing
Do you think he was reading papers and watching the news?

😂 Obviously not but he was in London. There are newspapers everywhere. My thinking was that he may have seen his face on one of them and realised.

EasternStandard · 27/10/2025 19:04

Yes I agree. The media treating it like he was on the run and trying to hide. He wasn’t, he didn’t know where to go or what to do.

ShenandoahRiver · 27/10/2025 19:05

@mammabing
Realised what? As far as he was concerned he was told to leave, given his belongings and directed to a train station, having gone back to the discharge desk 4 time.

NotForTheMoneyandNotForTheApplause · 27/10/2025 19:06

mammabing · 27/10/2025 19:00

His face kept appearing whenever I logged into the news apps on my phone so I just assumed it’d be on the front covers of the papers too. To be honest I don’t read them so perhaps I’m mistaken.

Unless he was frequenting newsagents or the paper section of supermarkets how would he have seen headlines? Not someone who doesn't speak the language well is going to be doing

2dogsandabudgie · 27/10/2025 19:08

I'm just glad he's been caught and detained.

LauraMipsum · 27/10/2025 19:09

The Times says there were 262 prisoners mistakenly released in the year to March 2025. I don't imagine the majority of them made the efforts to stay in custody that Kebatu did!

LadyKenya · 27/10/2025 19:10

2dogsandabudgie · 27/10/2025 19:08

I'm just glad he's been caught and detained.

Of course you are. What about all the rest who have been wrongly released though. That should concern the public as well.

mammabing · 27/10/2025 19:10

Ok I give up, my initial comment has been taken completely out of the context that I intended.
As you can probably tell I don’t read paper copies of newspapers and don’t live in London. I was wrongly under the assumption that newspapers were displayed outside as well as inside newsagents. I would question if I saw my face on one but clearly I thought wrongly.
I’m quite obviously not under the impression that he was sat browsing on his smartphone and watching bbc news like some of you seem to think but thank you people of mumsnet for making me feel dumb when expressing an opinion, really appreciated!

user1491934176 · 27/10/2025 19:21

Just on this, how can he be deported now? If the prison staff hadn’t mistakenly released him would he have been likely subject to deportation after he had completed his sentence?

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