The Ministry of Justice has revealed at least 62 Poles and 46 Lithuanians were convicted of murder in Britain between 2011 and 2019, but only 16 of each nationality were sent back to their home country to serve their sentences.
Figures released in response to a request made by The Epoch Times under the Freedom of Information Act also show at least 26 Jamaican nationals were convicted of murder in the same period but not a single one of them was deported to the Caribbean island to serve their sentence.
Last month The Epoch Times revealed how one in four foreign nationals who were given life sentences in England and Wales between 2011 and 2019 were sent back to serve their sentences in their home countries.
The Prison Service—which is part of the Ministry of Justice—said 125 foreign nationals serving a life sentence for murder or terrorism offences were sent back to their home countries during that period under an agreement with the British government.
When they released the figures the Ministry of Justice told The Epoch Times, in an accompanying letter: “We believe that the release of some of this information would risk identification of the individuals concerned. For this reason, the MoJ has chosen not to provide an exact figure where the true number is either one or two.”
Poland Tops Table for Convicted Murderers
But Poles represent the largest number of foreign nationals convicted of murder—either 62 or 63 Polish nationals were given life sentences for murder between 2011 and 2019.
There were 46 Lithuanians jailed for murder in the same period and between 33 and 37 Pakistani nationals.
Other countries which were over-represented in the list were Jamaica (between 26 and 30), Romania (between 18 and 21), and the Republic of Ireland (between 17 and 23).
India accounted for between 13 and 18 nationals, Italy had up to 11 nationals on the list and there were up to eight Albanians convicted of murder.
Geeta Aulakh’s family contacted the then Justice Secretary Robert Buckland who told them he had contacted the Indian authorities and been assured “steps were being taken” to ensure the pair served the rest of their sentence in prison.
India is not the only country where there are doubts about whether those given a life sentence in Britain will serve out their full sentence.
In 2006, Hekuran Billa shot dead a fellow Albanian, Prel Marku, at a social club in Park Royal, west London.
He fled to Denmark but was extradited and in 2008 he was convicted and jailed for life with the judge stipulating he should serve at least 34 years in prison, meaning he was not eligible for release until 2042.
Billa was sent back to Albania to serve the rest of his sentence, but in February 2019 he was released by a judge.
The Case of the Killer Saudi Prince
The Ministry of Justice figures also show in 2013 “two or fewer” convicted murderers were repatriated to Saudi Arabia.But the only Saudi national convicted of murder in Britain was Prince Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, the grandson of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, who was convicted in 2010 of killing his manservant at the Landmark Hotel in central London and jailed for a minimum of 20 years.
A PTA was negotiated in 2011 between Britain and Saudi Arabia and in 2013 Saud was repatriated, on the basis that he would serve the rest of his sentence in the desert kingdom.
The 1984 Repatriation of Prisoners Act allowed for inmates in British prisons to be sent back to their home country and also for British nationals abroad to be returned to the UK to serve out their sentences.
Under the act, the UK has to sign a separate PTA with each country’s government.
In 2007 Hansard listed all the countries which Britain had a PTA with and it included Albania, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Egypt, Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua, Thailand, Ukraine, Hong Kong, and the United States.
The most notable omissions on the list were Russia, Iran, and China.
The Ministry of Justice figures released this month show that in 2013 “two or fewer” Israeli nationals were released.
It is thought this may have been hitman Andrei Melnikov, who was jailed for life in 2005 for the murder of Israeli gangster Simon Turkov, who was smothered with a pillow and then left in a bath at the Marriott Hotel in Marble Arch, central London the previous year. Turkov was killed over a £200,000 gambling debt.
Last year Melnikov’s co-conspirator, Michael Antoneli, 69, died in hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 while serving his sentence in Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire.
But the list is also notable for what countries are not listed on it.
When Deslandes’ parents asked the UK Border Agency for confirmation that Hassan was a Guyanese national and would be deported, they were told the details were confidential under the Data Protection Act and Hassan himself would have to give permission for them to be released.
The Epoch Times contacted the Ministry of Justice for a response about what assurances could be given to victims’ families in the UK that foreign nationals who were sent back to their home countries would serve their full sentences in prison.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman told The Epoch Times: “Receiving states are obliged to provide reports on the status of a transferred prisoner, if requested by the UK. They are also obliged to inform the UK of escapes or sanctioned early releases, contrary to the agreement, and to explain or justify the circumstances.”
He said: “Prisoners transferred to their own country to serve the remainder of their prison sentence are subject to a deportation order that bars them from the UK for life. Revocation of the order can only be considered, on a case-by-case basis, after at least ten years.”
“As part of the transfer process, the Indian authorities confirmed Geeta Aulakh’s killers would not be considered for release from prison in India until they had served their minimum terms,” he said.
