The tragic and callous murder of head master Philip Lawrence outside his school in Maida Vale in 1995, caused national headlines and sympathy for his family, as well increased security for schools.
And yet, the EU Court of Human Rights has decreed that his killer, Learco Chindamo now 26 and serving a "life sentence" from which he is likely to be released from in less than 18months; that deporting him to Italy, where he was born, would breach his human rights.
The rules covering the deportation of convicted criminals between EU states are complex, particularly when they have spent a significant part of their life in the country where they have been imprisoned: Chindamo came to the UK when he was five. In such cases a criminal can be deported only if they are a "genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to the fundamental interests of society."
Personally, I have never heard an interview from Chindamo expressing his regret at the killing - and a jury found him guilty of murder, not manslaughter. Personally I'd call that a "sufficiently serious threat to the fundamental interests of society."
The more the EU Human Rights laws are abused, the more I'm thinking as a social liberal that there's something in voting for UKIP. How much more of this lunacy should we take, from a law that has been bent beyond recognition of what it was originally meant to achieve?
PS: if you want to get really happy, then just be advised that the costs are to be picked up by HMG.. ie: your taxes!
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