Police have launched a manhunt after an asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl was mistakenly released from prison.

Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, was jailed for 12 months over the attack in Epping, Essex, last month.

Prison sources said Kebatu was meant to be sent to an immigration detention centre ahead of a planned deportation. An investigation has been launched by the Prison Service, and an officer has been removed from discharging duties while it takes place.

Essex Police said “fast-paced enquiries have shown that the man boarded a London-bound train at Chelmsford Railway Station at 12:41BST”.

Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was “appalled at the release in error at HMP Chelmsford”. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Kebatu “must be caught and deported for his crimes”.

Kebatu’s arrest sparked protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, where he had been living.

In September, Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard Kebatu tried to kiss the teenage girl on a bench and made numerous sexually explicit comments on 7 July.

The following day, he encountered the same girl and tried to kiss her before sexually assaulting her. He also sexually assaulted a woman who had offered to help him create a CV to find work.

In September, after being found guilty of five offences, he was sentenced to 12 months and given a five-year sexual harm prevention order, which banned him from approaching or contacting any female.

During the trial, Kebatu gave his date of birth as December 1986, making him 38, but court records suggested he was 41.

He was also made to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We are urgently working with police to return an offender to custody following a release in error at HMP Chelmsford.

“Public protection is our top priority, and we have launched an investigation into this incident.”

A spokesperson for Essex Police said it was informed by the prison services about “an error” to do with “the release of an individual” at 12:57.

“As a result of that, we have launched a search operation to locate them and are working closely with partner agencies,” they added.

“These fast-paced enquiries have shown that the man boarded a London-bound train at Chelmsford Railway Station at 12:41.

“We understand the concern the public would have regarding this situation and can assure you we have officers working to urgently locate and detain him.”

Writing in a post on X, Lammy said: “We are urgently working with the police to track him down, and I’ve ordered an urgent investigation.

“Kebatu must be deported for his crimes, not on our streets.”

Sir Keir said the mistaken release was “totally unacceptable”.

Writing on X, he added: “I am appalled that it has happened, and it’s being investigated.

“The police are working urgently to track him down, and my government is supporting them. This man must be caught and deported for his crimes.”

Chelmsford’s Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman called for a rapid public inquiry into how the mistaken release, which was first reported by the Sun, happened.

“This is utterly unacceptable and has potentially put my constituents in danger,” she said. “I expect answers from the Prison Service.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the “entire system is collapsing under Labour”.

“Conservatives voted against Labour’s prisoner release program because it was putting predators back on our streets,” she said on X.

“But this man has only just been convicted. A level of incompetence that beggars belief.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “He is now walking the streets of Essex. Britain is broken.”