Convicted killer who got into Britain... then murdered schoolgirl
A LATVIAN jailed for murdering his wife was allowed to enter the UK – and then killed a British schoolgirl seven years later.
Arnis Zalkalns served seven years in prison in Latvia for killing his wife, and also had sexual assault and firearms convictions in his home country.
But he was permitted to come to Britain unchallenged in 200 under EU free movement rules.
The builder was arrested in 2009 on suspicion of drugging and indecently assaulting a girl in London, but he was not prosecuted.
His background was not investigated by Scotland Yard at the time because most officers did not know how to run overseas checks, it emerged later.
He went on to kill 14-year-old Alice Gross in August 2014 after pouncing on her in a suspected ‘opportunistic’ sexual assault.
The teenager’s decomposing body was found a month later in the River Brent near her home in Hanwell, west London, tied up in the foetal position.
Zalkalns was found hanged in a park a mile away, having committed suicide.
After an inquest into Alice’s death in July last year, her family said the police and Home Office were guilty of ‘complacent excuses’ for their failure to discover Zalkalns’ criminal past.
Her father said the teenager would probably still be alive if proper checks had been in place.