No mercy for Lawrence killer

The teenage killer of London head teacher Philip Lawrence was shown no mercy today as the Lord Chief Justice ruled that he could have no chance of release from prison until at least 2008.

Lord Woolf ruled that Learco Chindamo must serve a minimum of 12 years before becoming eligible for parole. In sticking to the recommended minimum put forward by the original trial judge, Lord Woolf heeded the anxieties of the victim's widow Frances Lawrence and her family. It emerged that Mrs Lawrence, who was in court to hear the judgment, had written to Lord Woolf expressing her fears that Chindamo would be released early. She said that her husband had been the "fulcrum" of her family and that "any lessening of his [Chindamo's] recommended sentence will be to destroy my family twice over".

Lord Woolf revealed that Chindamo had made "considerable progress" behind bars, where he appeared to have rejected the gang culture which led him to murder. The judge also said he had shown "deep remorse".

But, he said, the trial judge had actually been lenient and would have been entitled to recommend Chindamo serve a minimum of 14 years because of the aggravating factors of the attack. Chindamo was 15 in December 1995 when he committed the crime. Mr Lawrence, a 48-year-old father of four, was stabbed through the heart outside St George's Roman Catholic School in Maida Vale as he tried to protect a pupil from Chindamo's gang.

The killer has been in custody since January 1996. After his conviction in October 1996, the trial judge, The Common Serjeant of London Neil Denison, recommended a tariff, or minimum sentence of 12 years. Traditionally, the Home Secretary has the last word on minimum terms for child killers, but after James Bulger's killers won a case at the European Court of Human Rights, that responsibility now belongs to the Lord Chief Justice. In a five-page judgment, Lord Woolf dispelled the fears of Mrs Lawrence that Chindamo would be released early, even though he noted the trial judge's comment in a report to the Home Secretary that the murder had been "an impulsive rather than a premeditated killing".

Chindamo's solicitors had urged Lord Woolf to cut the tariff to 10 years, basing their claims on his increasing maturity and noting "vitriolic" press reports. Reports from within the prison system suggested Chindamo had had a positive influence on fellow inmates, pointing out the negative side of gangs.

A prison chaplain was clear in his view that Chindamo showed remorse and highlighted his developing flair for music and drama. However, Lord Woolf said it was clear Chindamo needed to make further progress. A senior psychologist reported "he remains at a high level of risk of violently re-offending".

Chindamo's own lawyers acknowledged he should go through a further " cognit ive self- change programme" to help him change before he could be safely released. In his conclusions, Lord Woolf said in spite of Chindamo's substantial progress "it would be wrong to reduce his tariff below that recommended by the trial judge".