Instead of that and after releasing him on parole taxpayers money will be used to protect him against 'vigilantes'.

New identity for headmaster's killer

Chindamo will need a secret address to escape attacks by vigilantes

Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
Sunday August 26, 2007
The Observer

The killer of headteacher Philip Lawrence, Learco Chindamo, will have to be relocated to a secret address when he leaves prison and made subject to a blanket media ban, senior public protection sources have told The Observer.

Officials fear that Chindamo, 27, who hopes to live with his mother and brother when he is released, will be the target of vigilante attacks. They say they cannot guarantee his safety unless stringent measures are made to protect his identity and whereabouts.

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One senior probation source working in public protection in London, who has overseen the protection of a number of high-profile killers on release from prison, said the Ministry of Justice would have to consider whether Chindamo should be given a completely new identity, like Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the killers of the Liverpool child James Bulger.

The two were released in June 2001 after serving eight years for murder and are living under assumed names at addresses known only to a handful of senior public protection officials.

Any attempt to relocate Chindamo is also likely to involve his mother, Paquita, and his brother, Wolfgang. But rehousing them at taxpayers' expense and making Chindamo subject to a 'Mary Bell' order - named after the 10-year-old killer who murdered two boys and was subject to a blanket media ban after she left prison - is likely to prove controversial.

Last week's decision not to deport Chindamo to Italy, where he was born, prompted calls to withdraw from human rights legislation and for reform of European Union law. Under the Human Rights Act, Chindamo's entitlement to a family life is protected and a European Union directive states that he can be deported only if he poses a severe threat to the public. Officials who have worked with Chindamo say that he is a reformed character.

Lawrence's widow, Frances, attracted widespread sympathy last week when she attacked the laws that prevented her husband's killer being deported. 'Chindamo went beyond the law and the Human Rights Act, taking away the most fundamental right of all, my husband's right to life,' she said. 'But then he was allowed to pick and choose from it to help him continue his life the way he wants it.'

If relocated, Chindamo's whereabouts would be known only to a small number of people. It is likely his home would be fitted with an alarm system linked to a local police station and he would be placed under close supervision by a hand-picked protection team.

Documents presented to the asylum and immigration tribunal that ruled against Chindamo's deportation raise concerns about his personal protection. A letter submitted to the hearing by the Home Office notes that 'risk factors might increase because of media and public scrutiny that the appellant might receive'. It continues: 'He would need to be excluded from certain parts of the country, community integration would be a problem on release and he might suffer a backlash.'

Probation experts said that, given the concerns, it was certain that Chindamo would have to be rehoused outside London, where his mother and brother live. 'It's inevitable he will have to be relocated and placed under a high-security protection scheme,' said Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation union Napo. 'Essential information about him will be wiped off all databases to avoid intelligence compromise.'

A source close to the Ministry of Justice confirmed it was aware it would need to take steps to protect Chindamo, but said it was too early to make any detailed assessment. 'It would not be automatically granted,' one Whitehall source told The Observer. 'His lawyer would have to apply.' Chindamo's lawyer, Nigel Leskin, declined to return calls last week.

The Parole Board will not sanction Chindamo's release until next January at the earliest. The Home Office is contesting last week's ruling allowing Chindamo, who has lived in London since he was six, to remain in the UK.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office declined to say on what grounds it would contest the decision until its lawyers had drawn up their response.
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