pounds 25,000 cost of killer

A police force who has spent pounds 25,000 in two months keeping a convicted paedophile in custody are asking the Government to pay towards the cost.

Sussex Police are paying pounds 400 a day to accommodate and supervise Robert Oliver, who was convicted of the manslaughter of 14-year-old Jason Swift in 1989.

He is being kept in a police cell after he pleaded for protection following threatening outburst from the public.

Paul Whitehouse, chief constable of Sussex, says in a report to his police authority yesterday that the cost of holding Oliver is putting an unbearable strain on his budget.

He said: "It falls to all authorities to try to protect the public from Oliver and also to ensure that no harm comes to Oliver himself." Oliver, who was given a 15-year sentence, was released in September.