Migrant sex attacker Hadush Kebatu was paid £500 to leave the UK, the Home Office has confirmed.
Kebatu, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, was mistakenly set free on Friday.
After a two-day police manhunt, he was arrested in the capital on Sunday morning
Kebatu was forcibly deported with a team of five escorts accompanying on the flight on Tuesday night, arriving in Ethiopia on Wednesday morning.
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Migrant sex attacker Hadush Kebatu was paid £500 to leave the UK
|PA
He was not on the Facilitated Returns Scheme. However, given Kebatu threats to disrupt the removal, an operational decision was taken to provide a discretionary £500 payment.
This decision was said to have been taken over a slower and more expensive process.
The alternative method would include detention of Kebatu, a new flight, and potentially dealing with subsequent legal claims.
Cancelling the flight could have seen costs spiral into several thousand pounds, the Home Office said.
The decision on the best course of action for deportation was taken by removal teams, not ministers.
Earlier today, border security minister Alex Norris said he could not confirm whether Hadush Kebatu received a cash payment to return to Ethiopia.
Alex Norris said ministers “are not involved in the operational movements” such as those that happened overnight.
Asked whether Kebatu had been given money on exiting the country, as is sometimes the case when a migrant leaves voluntarily, he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I can’t tell you on the cash piece.
WATCH: CCTV footage of Hadush Kebatu in London after his erroneous prison release
“I know that early in the process, he had asked for that and was denied… we do it sometimes to make a removal easier because it saves the taxpayer money, but I can’t tell in this case."
Kebatu's initial arrest catalysed many of the migrant hotel demonstrations this summer, most notably outside where he was placed at the time - The Bell in Epping.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside The Bell and at migrant hotels across the UK, holding signs reading "defend our girls" and chanting "save our kids".
Kebatu had been slated to be sent to an immigration detention centre to be deported - but was mistakenly freed in a calamitous gaffe on Friday morning.
CCTV footage of the migrant paedophile slowly emerged over the next day, before police finally found him in Finsbury Park, in the capital's north, early on Sunday.
Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, 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 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."
Kebatu's initial arrest sparked protests in Epping and across the nation
|GETTY
Deputy PM David Lammy added: "Kebatu has been returned to Ethiopia where he belongs. I am grateful to Home Office colleagues for acting swiftly to secure his deportation.
“I have been clear from the outset that a mistake of this nature is unacceptable and we must get to the bottom of what happened."
Mr Lammy added that he had set up an independent inquiry into Kebatu's release and vowed further action to "stop similar unacceptable errors in future".
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