Damilola Killer Ricky Preddie Back In Jail

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

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed Ricky Preddie was back in jail because of a breach of his "licence conditions", the second time he has broken the agreement a prisoner makes with the Parole Board if he is to be released early.

Gary Trowsdale, the managing director of the Damilola Taylor Trust, warned that there was no evidence Preddie, 24, had been reformed when he was released last month.

He said: "The Taylor family, society at large, and also the boys themselves have been failed by the system and the academics that run it.

"Now we are demanding answers and believe a public inquiry is the only way ofgetting 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."

Preddie was originally released in September 2010 but was sent to Pentonville prison in March of last year.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "At the request of the Ministry of Justice, police attended an address in London yesterday evening and arrested a man in his 20s for a recall to prison."

It was reported he had been in Southwark, in breach of an exclusion order, broken a late-night curfew and had been socialising with prohibited individuals.

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation union Napo, said: "He (Preddie) was recalled following information received from the police that he had entered the exclusion zone and may have been in contact with banned persons, former gang members.

"This is his second recall for the same breach of trust.

"It will be treated seriously by the authorities and he could now serve as much as another 14 months in custody."

A spokesperson for the MoJ said: "The decision to release recalled offenders from custody is made by the independent Parole Board - the body solely responsible in law for determining whether or not prisoners should be released.

"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.

"They will also be managed under the statutory Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (Mappa). Within Mappa, the Police, Probation and Prison Services are required to work together to assess and manage the risks presented by the most dangerous offenders, in order to protect the public."

Sources have told Sky News that this was a "minor" breach of the licence conditions, and that Preddie had "not hurt anyone".

Along with his brother Danny, Ricky Preddie was convicted in 2006 for the manslaughter of Damilola Taylor.

The conviction was only obtained after forensic evidence, previously missed, was uncovered in 2005.

The 10-year-old was found bleeding to death in a stairwell near his home in Peckham in 2000, having been stabbed in the thigh with a broken beer bottle.

His family had only been in the UK for a matter of months, having arrived in search of a better life.

Danny Preddie was released in September of last year after serving just five years of his sentence.

A spokesman for the Parole Board said that anyone recalled to custody will have their case referred within 28 days to the Parole Board, which will consider whether they can be released.

Preddie's sentence is due to end in May 2013.