Bogus refugee beat deportation six times, then murdered carer
AN ILLEGAL immigrant who murdered a carer in Hyde Park had been freed six times on bail because he could not be deported, a court has heard.
Hani Khalaf, 22, battered 62-year-old Jairo Medina to death last year before trawling through his belongings and stealing his mobile phone. Yesterday, Khalaf was sentenced to at least 26 years in jail as the judge suggested his case should prompt a review of the law.
A retrial at the Old Bailey heard the Egyptian had sneaked into the country posing as a Syrian refugee. Over two years of sleeping rough and stealing, he had been repeatedly picked up by the authorities but was continually freed on bail by immigration officers because of the difficulties in deporting him.
Judge Wendy Joseph QC said Khalaf was sent back into the community time and again and Mr Medina paid for it “with his life”. She said: “If anyone thinks it right to review it, they should have an opportunity to see what the consequences were in this case.”
Judge Joseph said Khalaf showed “no respect for the law” and became a danger to himself and others.
The day before he met Mr Medina, he was arrested for shoplifting in Regent Street but gave police a false name. He appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court and was bailed just hours before he killed Mr Medina. The Colombian’s badly beaten body was discovered on Aug 12. Giving evidence through a translator, Khalaf admitted being with Mr Medina, who lived in Chelsea, before and after the attack, but claimed he was not there at the time of the killing. He tried to sell his victim’s mobile phone and lost some of the cash gambling at a bookmaker’s.
Khalaf was arrested on Aug 16 for fare dodging and again on Aug 18 for shoplifting, when he was recognised by an officer as the suspect seen with Mr Medina on the night of his death.
In a victim impact statement Mr Medina’s brother, German Cardona, said he was given an award in 2015 for “service to care in London”.
Khalaf, of no fixed address, denied murder but was found guilty. The court heard Khalaf was likely to be deported to serve his sentence in Egypt once he was no longer a category A prisoner. A Home Office spokesman said more than 6,100 foreign offenders were removed from the UK last year, and it would “continue to seek Khalaf ’s deportation”.