Exclusive: POA says targeting is ‘unjust’, as chief inspector of prisons blames ‘chaos’ in sector and says mistakes happen ‘all the time’
The prison officers’ union has questioned why a single member of staff at HMP Chelmsford has been “unjustly” targeted after the mistaken release of a refused asylum seeker who had sexually assaulted a teenage girl.
Mark Fairhurst, the national chair of the POA, said that the member, a discharging manager, was the only person under suspension when at least two other more senior staff members were involved in freeing Hadush Kebatu.
The Ethiopian national was let go and ushered away by staff from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.
Kebatu, who had been living at the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex when he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl, travelled to London after his release and was arrested on Sunday morning in Finsbury Park after a two-day manhunt.
