The migrant sex offender who was wrongly released from prison has been handed £500 in taxpayers’ money to leave Britain.

Footage captured from Heathrow Airport showed the moment Hadush Kebatu, 38, was escorted on to a plane to Ethiopia last night.

He was mistakenly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning after serving just one month of his year-long sentence for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

Kebatu was given a ‘discretionary’ payment of £500 by the Home Office, it is understood.

The money was handed over because of the threats by Kebatu to ‘disrupt’ the removals flight, sources said.

It is understood that even though his original trial heard it was his ‘firm wish’ to return to Ethiopia, his compliance with immigration officials deteriorated yesterday.

He threatened to launch a legal challenge against his removal and even said he was considering lodging a new asylum claim with the Home Office.

After indicating he would go quietly in exchange for the cash, Kebatu was forcibly deported from Britain by a team of five security escorts.

Kebatu should have been transferred to a deportation centre last week, but clueless prison officers repeatedly told him to leave and get on a train to London instead.

The Ethiopian national, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, was arrested in north London on Sunday morning after a two-day manhunt.

He was pictured being detained by four officers inside Finsbury Park, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowing he ‘will be deported’.

The Home Office confirmed Kebatu was removed on a flight to Ethiopia last night and arrived this morning.

A source said the decision to pay the sex offender £500 was designed to save wider costs to the taxpayer, including paying for his detention, new air tickets and legal fees if he lodged a legal challenge against his removal.

The alternative would have been ‘slower and more expensive’, they suggested.

Ministers were not involved in the decision to pay the sum, the source added, and Home Office removal teams had been responsible for allocating the funds.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: ‘Last week’s blunder should never have happened – and I share the public’s anger that it did.

‘I would like to thank the police for rapidly bringing Mr Kebatu into custody and the public for their vigilance.

‘I have pulled every lever to deport Mr Kebatu and remove him off British soil. I am pleased to confirm this vile child sex offender has been deported.

‘Our streets are safer because of it. If you come to this country and commit crimes, we will remove you.’

A minister said it was ‘unacceptable’ that a prisoner had been released without checks being done to ensure that was correct.

It was put to border security minister Alex Norris on Sky News that the situation ‘beggars belief,’ to which he replied: ‘It’s unacceptable.

‘It’s why were so angry about it, it’s why we’ve put those changes in.’

Mr Norris said ministers ‘are not involved in the operational movements’ such as those that happened overnight, and declined to comment on any cash payments received by the offender.

The Home Office operates a ‘facilitated returns scheme’ (FRS) which allows foreign offenders to receive hand-outs of up to £1,500 if they agree to leave this country.

Kebatu applied for thsi pay-out but was refused, it is understood.

The FRS also allows a £500 ‘discretionary additional’ payment aimed at what the Home Office describes as ‘vulnerable foreign national offenders’, such as those who are seriously ill, pregnant, mentally ill or disabled, elderly, homeless or destitute.

The rules of the scheme say: ‘This list is not exhaustive, and the merits of each application will be judged on a case-by-case basis.’

Kebatu is understood to have received the cash through this discretionary scheme.

Funds are usually loaded onto a payment card after an offender has been deported, which can then be used to withdraw cash when they arrive in their homeland.

The debacle has left Labour facing fresh questions about its handling of the migrant crisis.

Kebatu has, in theory, been deported with no right to ever return to Britain.

But last week it emerged that an Iranian small boat migrant returned to Britain across the Channel just weeks after being deported under Labour’s ‘one in, one out’ scheme.

Further reports of migrants removed to France under the deal have thrown up fresh concerns over Britain’s porous borders.

Keabatu’s £500 payment was ‘an absolute disgrace’, the Conservatives have said.

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Kebatu had been living at The Bell Hotel in Epping at the time of his crimes, leading to widespread protests outside the Essex property, some of which turned violent.

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