On the run Bell Hotel paedophile migrant Hadush Kebatu took train to London - prisoner service staff suspended over blunder

THE police are hunting for Bell Hotel paedophile Hadush Kebatu (above) in London after he was "accidentally" freed by the prison service while being transferred from prison to an immigration detention centre to be deported.

A major search operation is under way to find him the convicted sex attacker after he was moved from Chelmsford Prison today.

It has been confirmed by police that he was able to take a train from Chelmsford rail station into London.

Video has now surfaced which was filmed by a woman who thought she recognised him in Chelmsford today before news of the blunder broke.

He was apparently seen with a prison bag in a grey tracksuit and talking to three men, appearing to ask for directions.

A senior justice source told The Sun: “He has been released in error – this is the mother of all f**k ups.

“It is down to human error, with the wrong paperwork on it or something. (Justice Secretary) David Lammy is aware – and is furious.”

Ethiopian migrant Kebatu, 41, sparked the spate of protests outside the notorious asylum seeker hotel in July after he was arrested following a sex assault on a school girl in Epping.

He was later found guilty at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court of touching and trying to kiss the girl, who was in her school uniform, in Epping on 7 and 8 July and of a sex assault on an adult woman who tried to intervene.

He carried out the attacks just eight days after arriving in Britain on a small boat.

Kebatu, described as a sexual predator who showed no remorse, by sentencing Judge Christopher William, had only been in prison for four weeks after being jailed for 12 months on September 23.

It is understood he was released after midday.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Remember: they told you that local mums who protested outside the hotel where this sex attacker stayed were the problem.”

MP for Chelmsford Marie Goldman said: “I am closely following developments and am in contact with the police and the prison.

“The police must do everything they can to ensure that this man is returned to custody immediately so that he is deported at once.

“Once the manhunt is over, there must be a full, rapid public inquiry into how this happened.

“This is utterly unacceptable and has potentially put my constituents in danger.”

An officer from the Prison Service has been suspended while what happened is investigated.