Widow of Philip Lawrence attacks deportation law

Jan 30 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

THE widow of murdered headmaster Philip Lawrence attacked Britain’s deportation laws after a petty criminal was forcibly returned to the Philippines while her husband’s Italian killer can stay in the UK.

Frances Lawrence said she has complained to Justice Secretary Jack Straw after John Garcia was deported from Anglesey – where he lived for 16 years – to the Philippines earlier this month for breaching an antisocial behaviour order (Asbo).

Mrs Lawrence, who was brought up in Sketty, in Swansea, is angry that Learco Chindamo, who stabbed her husband to death outside St George’s Roman Catholic School in Maida Vale, west London, in December 1995, will not be deported on his release in the coming weeks.

Mr Lawrence died when a gang of 12 youths, led by Chindamo, went to attack a 13-year-old pupil, who had quarrelled with a boy of Filipino origin.

Chindamo, whose mother is Filipino and father Italian, punched and stabbed father- of-four Mr Lawrence, who was trying to protect the pupil.

Mrs Lawrence said, “The law does not reflect the reality of people’s real concerns. I feel this is Kafka-esque. I can’t make sense of it. It concerns me.

“The law does not seem to have any relationship with ordinary people who can see what is right or wrong. It seems a very odd one on the face of it. I don’t know if it is more to do with the European directive.”

Justice Secretary Jack Straw personally intervened last August when it emerged that Chindamo would not be deported.

But in October, Mr Justice Collins, a senior High Court judge, upheld an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) decision that Chindamo, who was jailed with a tariff of 12 years in 1996, cannot be deported on release.

The judge emphasised that his decision was mainly based on EU regulations and the fact that it would be “disproportionate” to remove the 27-year-old, as an EU citizen, under those regulations.

He said the law he had to apply was contained in the 2006 Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations.

These state that a person who has acquired the right to reside in the UK could only be removed if their personal conduct represents “a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society”.

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to private and family life, was also considered by the tribunal.

Although born in Italy, Chindamo has lived in the UK since the age of six.

He was 15 when he stabbed Mr Lawrence.

Mrs Lawrence said she did not understand how Garcia, who has convictions for burglary, theft and possession of drugs, could be deported when Chindamo was not.

She told The Daily Telegraph, “I don’t get it. If you murder someone you can stay and if you steal from someone you are chucked out. I feel very strongly about this.”

Neither Chindamo nor Garcia has a British passport, both are in their 20s and were brought to the UK by their Filipino mothers when they were young.

But whereas Garcia, 20, is a Filipino national who never applied for British citizenship, Chindamo is Italian, which gives him European Union protection from deportation.

Garcia’s case was the subject of a television documentary broadcast last night on S4C.

He was reportedly deported after completing a sentence in a young offenders’ institution for breaching an Asbo. He was picked up and sent to an immigration detention centre.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said, “The cases of Chindamo and Garcia have been through lengthy reviews and appeal processes by the courts.

“Any decisions taken by the AIT and courts will have considered the circumstances of each case separately.

“The circumstance of every case is different and it is therefore inappropriate to make comparisons between the cases.

“We are unable to comment on whether or not the decisions that were taken in either of the cases were appropriate: this is entirely a matter for the courts.

“As has been widely reported, we can confirm that Secretary of State Jack Straw met with Mrs Lawrence in August.

“As this was a private meeting it would be inappropriate to put on the public record the matters that were discussed at the time.”