Fury as hundreds of foreign criminals guilty of murder and abuse allowed into the UK

Hundreds of foreign criminals guilty of murder and rape have been allowed to slip into the UK. Their convictions for horrific crimes overseas were uncovered after they were accused of offences in this country, leading British police to carry out checks.

On Saturday, the Home Office pledged to stop "dangerous individuals" coming into Britain. But a Sunday Express investigation found hundreds of convicted killers, sex offenders and paedophiles arrived over the three years between 2022 and 2024. They were identified after checks on foreign nationals arrested in the UK were carried out by the ACRO Criminal Records Office, a national police unit.

This found 359 guilty of murder or manslaughter, 239 guilty of rape and 313 guilty of child sex offences.

It means up to 911 people were identified in total. Some may have been counted more than once if they were arrested in Britain on multiple occasions.

Many of the offenders came from Eastern European countries, including 409 from Romania alone.

Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: "Most disturbing is that this litany of crime is, it seems, committed mostly by EU nationals and only comes to light after those concerned commit fresh crimes here.

"For me, this points to dangerously lax control at the border, where EU nationals can slip into the country with a quick scan of their passport. Just as worrying is that the criminals identified could be a representative group and possibly the tip of a much bigger iceberg."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "This data is largely based on the previous government's work. This Government is securing our borders to make sure dangerous individuals cannot enter the UK.

"All arrivals in the UK, regardless of method of entry, are subject to rigorous checks against departmental systems and immigration databases. They can be refused entry if they have a criminal conviction, history of serious or persistent offending or have failed to declare convictions.

"Our police also carry out routine checks for overseas criminal convictions on foreign nationals who are arrested, and where serious convictions are found, individuals are referred to Immigration Enforcement for deportation."

But Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary, said: "Murderers, rapists, child abusers. These are people who should never have been allowed anywhere near our country and should have been deported immediately. Every illegal immigrant should be kicked out within a week of arrival, and every foreign criminal should be urgently deported. It's that simple.

"Britain is supposed to have one of the most advanced criminal record exchange systems in Europe, yet under Labour it's more sieve than shield.

"The British people are furious and rightly so. Our borders plan is ready. Leave the ECHR, remove all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival, end the merry-go-round of appeals. But Keir Starmer doesn't have the backbone to do this. It's weakness from top to bottom, and the country is sick of it."

Reform UK's Lee Anderson said: "Under the Conservatives and continued by Labour, Britain has become notorious for being soft touch. Hardened criminals are emboldened to come here in their droves because they know the UK Government doesn't have the spine to prioritise the safety of Brits and deport them.

"Reform UK would not hesitate to deport every single one of the almost 11,000 foreign national offenders currently in custody in the UK. This would not only free up prison capacity, but also send a clear signal that Britain is closed for criminals."

The figures uncovered by the Express only include those guilty of the most serious crimes, and their convictions were revealed only once they came to the attention of British police, suggesting the total number of foreign offenders entering the UK could run into thousands.

In 2017, Polish convicted killer Michael Podlaszczyk was jailed for life for raping and robbing a woman he attacked in a Leicester park. It later emerged the 33-year-old had come to England just weeks after being released on parole in his homeland after serving 12 years behind bars for killing a man in a drunken rage.

Another high-profile case was that of Vytautas Jokubauskas, 59, who murdered his partner before dismembering her and stuffing her torso into a suitcase. Jokubauskas, who was living in Peterborough, strangled his girlfriend Ramute Butkiene, 42, with a dressing gown cord before dismembering her body.

It emerged at the end of his trial, where he was convicted of her murder, that in 1992 he was jailed in Lithuania for a brawl in which he killed a man.

The issue was further highlighted in 2015 when Lithuanian Raimondas Jakstas, 26, was jailed for attacking his neighbour in Boston, Lincs. Jakstas had come to the UK after his release from a Lithuanian jail where he had served five years of a nine-year sentence for beating someone to death.

Sentencing him, Judge Michael Heath said: "This case highlights a matter that is a legitimate public concern.

"If someone in this country is sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, and life imprisonment is the only sentence that can be passed for murder in this country, then once they are released they are subject to licence for the rest of their life and they are monitored.

"That does not appear to be the case with those who are convicted of murder in the country of your origin. You were able to come to this country without any hindrance, and live here without monitoring."

ACRO Criminal Records Office is the national police unit responsible for exchanging criminal records information between the UK and countries around the world and officials have carried out 315,228 cross border computerised criminal record checks over the last three years.

The numbers and nationalities of serious foreign criminals in the UK was disclosed following a Freedom of Information Act request.

A spokesperson for ACRO said: "The UK has well-established mechanisms for exchanging information on criminal records with European partners. This helps UK police pursue criminal investigations and safeguard communities."