Damilola Taylor killer recalled to prison - The Guardian

The father of schoolboy Damilola Taylor has called for a public inquiry after one of his son's killers was recalled to prison for a second time, just 16 days after being released.

Ricky Preddie, who was jailed for eight years in 2006 for the manslaughter of the 10-year-old on a south London housing estate in 2000, was recalled to prison on Thursday for breaching the terms of his licence. He entered an exclusion zone in Southwark, south London, and might have met former gang members after being released from Pentonville prison in north London on 25 January.

Gary Trowsdale, a spokesman for the Damilola Taylor Trust, said the Taylor family was being tortured again with the news that Preddie had been recalled.

"The Taylor family, society at large, and also the boys themselves have been failed by the system and the academics that run it," he said. "Now we are demanding answers and believe a public inquiry is the only way of getting them. Richard Taylor, supported by the Damilola Taylor Trust and other victim families, is writing to the prime minister calling for a public inquiry into how the system has failed so badly in this case."

Damilola Taylor. Photograph: Metropolitan police/PA

Two "bungled trials" had cost £16m to put his two killers in prison for four years, Trowsdale said. "During this period there were many reported incidents of their continuing to break the law. There was never a hint of remorse or reform."

The boys' age and association with other young offenders in the area had seen them labelled as "Peckham boys", with the area suffering by association, he said.

"It has since been well-documented that the case was a landmark in the birth of a new wave of 'branded' youth gangs. Given the seriousness to society this case represented, the Taylor family and the DTT (Damilola Taylor Trust) have always maintained that the reform of the boys should have been essential before their release. They knew nothing but the life of the street and so would have little chance of creating new lives for themselves unless this was the case."

He said every young gang member knew the name Preddie.

"Now with the Taylor family being tortured again by the media interest in the boy being recalled a second time, we are calling on the prime minister to act."

Preddie, 24, has now been recalled to prison twice for breaking the terms of his release by visiting Southwark and associating with gang members. He was originally released in September 2010 but sent back to jail last March for breaking the conditions of his licence. He was released again two weeks ago, but arrested at an address in London on Thursday night.

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation union Napo, said Preddie was recalled after police received information that he had entered the exclusion zone and may have been in contact with banned people – former gang members.

"This is his second recall for the same breach of trust," Fletcher said. "It will be treated seriously by the authorities and he could now serve as much as another 14 months in custody."

The case will be referred within 28 days to the parole board, which will consider whether Preddie – who was due to leave prison at the end of May 2013 – can be released.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the decision to release recalled offenders from custody was made by the independent parole board. "Serious offenders released on licence are subject to a strict set of conditions and controls. Examples include a strict curfew and other restrictions on their movements, as well as frequent meetings with their offender manager. If they fail to comply with their licence conditions, they are liable to be returned to custody."

Damilola bled to death after being stabbed in the leg with a broken bottle by Preddie and his brother, Danny, who was released in September last year after serving five years of his sentence. Damilola had recently moved with his family from Nigeria and was settling into a new school when he was attacked while walking home from the library after school by members of the brothers' street gang.

The brothers were convicted of manslaughter at the Old Bailey six years after Damilola's death, following three trials and two police investigations. Ricky Preddie, 13 at the time of the killing, was brought to court when forensic evidence, missed at the time, revealed tiny blood spots and fibres.

The nature of the crime and the young age of the victim grabbed headlines, sparking debate about gangs and youth violence.