4YRS IS A JOKE; Not enough for a killer, says MP.

Byline: JAMES LYONS 

SUPERMARKET killer Tony Virasami's four-year sentence is too short, an MP said yesterday.

Virasami's disabled victim Kevin Tripp, 57, died after he was punched viciously in the head while standing in a Sainsbury's checkout queue.

MP Siobhain McDonagh, whose constituency the shop is in, said: "It does seem to be a very short time for taking a life and a little girl's dad.

"What message does it send out?" Ms McDonagh's mother is a neighbour of the Tripp family. The MP said she would take the issue up with Justice Secretary Jack Straw if they wanted to press for a longer sentence.

Virasami, 38, who admitted manslaughter, grinned as he was sentenced at Southwark crown court on Wednesday.

He could be out by next summer with time on remand taken into account. Prosecutors ruled out appealing for a longer sentence.

The CPS said comparisons with similar killings showed four years was "at the higher end" of jail terms handed out by the courts.

The killer's heroine addict girlfriend Antoinette Richardson had mistakenly pointed out Mr Tripp as a man she rowed with earlier over queue jumping.

Richardson, 37, denied manslaughter but was convicted for "egging him on" and got 18 months.

The pair, from Catford, had shoplifting convictions before killing ME sufferer Mr Tripp, an engineer, at Merton, South West London, last June.

His family were outraged by the soft sentence handed down on Wednesday.

Partner Josephine James, mother of their five- year-old girl Rianna, wept as she said: "I don't think four years is long enough.

"I wanted them to get life. I want them to rot in jail but they are not going to. They're going to be out."

CAPTION(S):

KILLER Virasami VICTIM Tragic dad Kevin Tripp