Theresa May's hopes of deporting Italian 'hammer killer' quashed by judges

Home Secretary Theresa May's hopes of deporting an Italian father-of-five who hit his flatmate over the head with a hammer then strangled him with the flex of an iron were yesterday dashed by senior judges.

The Court of Appeal concluded that the 54-year-old man should not be deported because he did not pose a "sufficiently serious threat to public security". Mrs May had challenged a similar earlier ruling by an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.

Lord Justice Pill, Lord Justice Aikens and Lady Justice Rafferty dismissed her appeal after a hearing in London.

The man, who has not been identified, was given an eight-year jail term in 2002 after being convicted of killing flatmate Edward Mitchell.The judges said the man had been convicted of manslaughter by a jury at the Old Bailey. He had struck Mr Mitchell "at least 20 blows" to the head with weapons including a hammer before strangling him. Jurors decided that "murder was reduced to manslaughter by reason of provocation".

The man had been released from prison to hostel accommodation but, because no place was available, he had been rearrested. He subsequently received damages of £25,000 for the "unlawful imprisonment which followed," the judges said.