Ricky Preddie, one of the men responsible for the murder of Nigerian schoolboy Damilola Taylor, was released from prison for the second time today. Preddie –whose brother Danny was also convicted of manslaughter, was sentenced to eight years in prison back in 2006 but was released just four years later in August 2010. The 24-year-old was later sent back to prison after violating the terms of his release and let go for the second time from London’s Pentonville prison today.
Damilola Taylor was found bleeding to death in a Peckham stairwell in 2000 after being stabbed in the leg with a broken bottle while walking home from the library.
Managing Director of the Damilola Taylor Trust, Gary Trowsdale had this to say of the decision to release Ricky Preddie: “We hope that this time Ricky Preddie can keep himself out of trouble and the Probation Service can deliver the support he requires to do so. There is, of course, absolutely zero evidence that he has been reformed and, like his brother, he has never shown remorse On this basis, as with every other victims organisation in the country, we do not understand why he was released in the first place. What can we do, though? The system is the system, and the system is flawed.”
