An Egyptian who posed as a Syrian asylum seeker and arrived in Britain in the back of a lorry was found to have avoided deportation six times before murdering a “kind and peace-loving” care worker.
Hani Khalaf, 22, was sentenced at The Old Bailey to at least 26 years’ imprisonment for kicking, punching, and stamping to death 62-year-old Jairo Medina before stealing the dead man’s wallet and mobile phone, reports The Times.
The court heard that Khalaf lived on the streets and had been bailed for shoplifting hours before the fatal attack on the carer at London’s Hyde Park.
The Egyptian national had arrived in Kent in the back of a lorry in August 2014.
Judge Wendy Joseph, QC, said: “It is clear that Hani Khalaf, having absconded, came to the attention of authorities on at least six occasions.
“On each, he was re-bailed because they could not make arrangements for securing his deportation in a reasonable amount of time.”
The Old Baily was told he is likely to be deported once he is no longer a ‘Category A‘ prisoner.
Following the terror attacks in Spain last week, Spanish media reports suggested that Abdelbaki Es Satty, the imam thought to have acted as the Barcelona terror attack’s mastermind, should have been deported from Spain in 2014 after completing a prison sentence. However, judges said this would have breached his human rights.
In May, it was revealed that failed asylum seeker and terrorist Anis Amri could have been deported before committing the attack on Berlin’s Christmas market but authorities failed to act in time.
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