Smith to appeal Chindamo ruling

Jacqui Smith's officials will attempt to overturn the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal's ruling in the case of Learco Chindamo, who fatally stabbed the father-of-four in Maida Vale, west London, in December 1995.

Immigration minister Liam Byrne said: "We are very disappointed by the determination."

He added: "The Home Office believes the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal provided insufficient detail to justify rejecting deportation in this case and gave insufficient weight to the seriousness of Chindamo's original offence when deciding whether he remains a threat to society. Foreign nationals who commit serious crimes should be automatically deported."

He added: "I have instructed officials to apply immediately to the High Court to have the original decision reconsidered."

Italian-born Chindamo, who was 15 at the time of the killing, was ordered to be detained indefinitely for the killing, and given a 12-year minimum tariff, which expires next October.

Papers from last month's legal case showed Home office officials believed Chindamo posed a "genuine and present risk". He had been rated as the highest level of risk because of his notoriety, and would also need to be excluded from certain parts of the country, the documents said.

Chindamo's defence team said there was no evidence their client, now aged 26, was a serious and present threat, noting that reports on him had been "very positive" and the Parole Board had been "very impressed".

Mr Lawrence, 48, was attacked outside his school when a gang of 12 youths led by Chindamo went to attack a boy who had quarrelled with a pupil of Filipino origin.

Chindamo, a member of the Wo-Sing-Wo gang - which aspired to be the juvenile equivalent of the Triads - has always claimed another youth was the killer. He said he was the victim of mistaken identity as another youth was wearing his jacket, and said he was 30 feet from the murder scene.