Kebatu wasn't really "on the run"

[Pebbles16]

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.

I saw a timeline where he got to Stratford from Chelmsford - after asking for help several times and trying to get back to prison - then was on CCTV in a library in Dalston by Friday afternoon. That’s a really straightforward and quick journey, he was still in his grey prison tracksuit holding the plastic bag. The rest I’m not sure, in the image of him being arrested at Finsbury Park he had different clothes on.

When was the last time you saw an actual newspaper by the way?

I cannot remember personally.

Boo fucking hoo.
i can’t believe some of the posts.
Maybe if we were not spaffing £15.3 BILLION on ‘migrants accomodation ’ illegals in hotels we could afford to ensure British vulnerable prisoners were given some support.

Totally agree he was asking passers-by where he was supposed to go and informed them he was being deported this doesn't constitute being on the run.

But he'd been told he was free.

I’m sure I read somewhere he didn’t have a phone etc so if he had no access to MSM or SM he wouldn’t know they were looking for him.

I read he thought he was meant to be being deported and met at the gates for deportation and had no idea what was going on.

I agree OP - this report on sky from an independent eye witness outlines what happened:

I think the phrase "on the run" is to cover over that actually he was mistakenly let go - he didn't run off at all (at least not according to the witness).

No, I don't believe in the death sentence. And, thankfully it doesn't exist in the UK.

@LunaDeBallona they are NOT all illegal immigrants. And they are hardly what most of us would consider hotels.
The Justice system is broken - but it's not down to migrants (illegal or otherwise), it's systemic failure over decades.

Yes, this. From the courts transcript it seems like he asked a girl to kiss him and touched her thigh and possibly touched another woman’s thigh who was trying to help him. Absolutely not condoning this, it’s awful and creepy and wrong but it’s not rape.

I wonder where exactly he is being deported too?

Quite. And he was convicted, and was serving his sentence. He did not break out of prison, and go on the run, quite the opposite.

Back home to Ethiopia I think

Great example of poor communication and assumption that someone knows what's happening.
We should never ever assume anything ever !

Least of all a prison discharge officer

The entire thing is a joke and whilst I blame him wholeheartedly for his crime I do not blame him for the sheer confusion and steps he took next..

As a country looking at an awful winter punished again with taxes etc ,last year was the fuel crisis we are wasting too much energy and spending too much money on people who do not need our help.our refugee system and asylum system should be for the vulnerable ....fleeing their lives.

And we should be able to offer them safe and good quality provision. Not huge hulking men

Yea Tommy, of course.

Here is the original judgement for anyone who wished to read it

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Hadush-Kebatu-Sentence-Remarks.pdf

its clear the release failings are nothing to do with him. He tried to go back multiple times.

language barrier, shocking systems here and indeed complete lack of comprehension

How many freed prisoners go back to the prison 4 times before someone twigs there might be a reason this fella keeps coming back?

The entire country knew about this man’s incarceration. His face has been in the papers and need for months.

Add this to the deported fella that just jumped on the next boat back and you’ve the makings of a Keystone Cop movie.

I’ve just heard the Venerable Lammas on the news tonight blaming the last Government. Mate, YOU are the Government now. Pick up your shit and sort it out.

Yep. Utter farce.

Thank you SOOOOO MUCH @Pebbles16 for this thread. And thank you to most of the posters (a couple of notable posts like @Iamfree and @LunaDeBallona aside).
❤️💐💐💐💐❤️

AT LAST a thread on the mn i know and love, and not the racist tripe with barely legitimate justification (which mnhq lets stand, much to my disappointment). I was beginning to despair, and was seriously considering leaving.

You've restored my hope.
Thank you x
Thank you all xxxx

My bad.

Posted same comment twice 😳

The constant description of it as a 'manhunt' was ridiculous. Implying that he was some hugely dangerous criminal on the run and evading the law. There are thousands of far more dangerous criminals in our communities who have committed extremely serious crimes and been released early from prison legitimately. They are barely being supervised by the Probation Service, which is chronically underfunded and understaffed and has no resources to monitor them properly. Be worried about them.

Ooooh it wasnt rape
Well thats OK then innit

He broke the law and was convicted and served a sentence. It wasnt rape any more than it was mortgage fraud or shop lifting. Why the insistence on making out the offence was more serious than it was? He doesnt sound particularly dangerous.

There was a headline in the Mail yesterday saying that he had changed his appearance. Erm, he CHANGED HIS CLOTHES. Or sorry, were people expecting him to wear his grey jogger prison attire for the rest of his life?

The hyperbole and hysteria is insane. As a country, the government and the media love to put the spotlight on/make examples of one or 2 people, whether it's this guy, or the one guy who got deported to France (who came back) or the one boat that got slashed by the French coast police people. it's actually embarrassing

It's not Ok. He was arrested, went to court and went to prison but it wasn't rape.