huffingtonpost - 4 days ago

Sarah Jones, minister for policing and crimeThe minister for policing and crime Sarah Jones has admitted officials’ decision to give a migrant sex offender £500 to leave the UK “sticks in the throat”.Hadush Kebatu was deported to Ethiopia on Tuesday night, a month after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman while he was staying in an asylum hotel in Epping.Kebatu came over to the UK on a small boat to claim asylum but ended up triggering anti-migrant protests with his crimes.His case caused further outrage when he was accidentally released from prison last Friday – while still serving his 12-month sentence – prompting a 48-hour manhunt.After his recapture, five officials accompanied him on his deportation flight – and paid him £500 when he threatened to disrupt his own removal.The decision was not made by ministers, but by the removal team who made the payment, suspecting the subsequent fallout would only cost the taxpayer more.Speaking to Times Radio, minister Jones said while the matter of payment for Kebatu is obviously “galling,” it was the right thing to do.She said: “I don’t think it’s a bribe. I wouldn’t use that terminology.“Of course, this sticks in the throat.“These are normal flights and he wouldn’t willingly get onto that plane, the operators there in that moment made the decision to make that payment.”Times Radio presenter Stig Abell asked: “Why couldn’t they have marched him onto a plane?”Jones replied: “This is a commercial flight with other people on it.“You have to have an orderly situation on the plane. I think people will understand that.“They took the decision that they would give him that money in that moment. I think it’s galling, right? I get that and I think everybody will feel the same way.”Jones was unable to say how many foreign criminals have been given money this year by the Labour government to leave the country.She also told LBC that the costs would have climbed significantly if the lump sum had not been paid.The minister said: “If we hadn’t been able to get him on that plane, then he would have been held for another day... It would have cost £10,000.“So the choice was £500 versus £10,000 and I think in terms of use of taxpayers’ money, that was the right decision to make.”She also extended her apologies to the families of the victims, adding: “We’re deeply sorry to those families who’ve suffered that this should have happened.”Related...Trump Creates Another Hero Myth About Himself, This Time Making His Aides Sound Like FoolsSouth Korea Gifts Trump A Literal Crown Amid No Kings ProtestsDonald Trump Insists Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Is Holding Despite Clear Evidence To The Contrary

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