Tory: Meaningless jail terms let thug free to kill students

Failings that left a convicted knife thug free to murder two brilliant French students were the result of "utterly meaningless" prison sentences, the Conservatives have claimed.

A series of blunders meant Dano Sonnex was not returned to prison before he stabbed to death Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, in an "orgy of bloodletting" in New Cross, south London, in June last year.

Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve said the killings were the result of "serious and systemic failures" across the criminal justice system.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he criticised the way Sonnex was released on licence part-way through a jail term, four months before the murders.

He said: "He was serving an eight-year sentence for robberies and violence. Yet despite 40 breaches of prison discipline, including violence to staff and inmates, he had to be released in less than five years."

Mr Grieve said these systemic failings were the direct result of "utterly meaningless" fixed-term prison sentences that meant inmates were released no matter how bad their behaviour.

He also criticised the probation service's focus on finding Sonnex a job and a home when protecting the public should have been its priority.

Sonnex and Nigel Farmer, 34, were jailed for life at the Old Bailey last week. Sonnex will serve at least 40 years; Farmer will be eligible for parole after 35 years.