DAMILOLA KILLER: I'LL WALK FREE TO SCOTLAND; EXCLUSIVE Thug plots life in Edinburgh with penpal.Byline: By DAVID TAYLOR THE killer of schoolboy Damilola Taylor is secretly planning to start a new life in Scotland when he is freed. Danny Preddie wants to move to Edinburgh this year to live with a female penpal he befriended while behind bars. Preddie, 20, and his brother Rickie, 21, were found guilty of manslaughter after stabbing 10-year-old Damilola and leaving him to bleed to death. But Danny is eligible for parole this year after serving just three years of his eight-year sentence. Sickening letters to the girl detailing his devious plan were passed to the Sunday Mail. He writes: "I hope you think we can be more than friends if you know what I mean. When I get out we can see more of each other cos I'm moving to Edinburgh when I get out so stay free for me." The Preddies, of Peckham, southeast London, were convicted after a six-year investigation that cost more than pounds 15million and involved three separate trials. Nigerian-born Damilola had only been in Britain a few months when he died in November 2000. He was walking home from school when the Preddies chased him, cornered him in a filthy stairwell stair·well n. A vertical shaft around which a staircase has been built. stairwell Noun a vertical shaft in a building that contains a staircase Noun 1. , stabbed him with a broken bottle and left him to die. The crime shocked the nation and Damilola became a symbol of Britain's battle against blade culture. Astonishingly a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. Danny still claims he is innocent. He told his Scots penpal: "I'm in jail for somethink (sic) I didn't do. "I got eight years and I've done two years and one month." He adds: "I like my girl to be intelligent and independent and not forgetting sex." Danny's early-parole bid will enrage en·rage tr.v. en·raged, en·rag·ing, en·rag·es To put into a rage; infuriate. [Middle English *enragen, from Old French enrager : en-, causative pref. relatives who slammed his eight-year sentence as a "disgrace". At the time dad Richard Taylor, 60, said: "From the outset this case has been a catalogue of failures. "We question whether these sentences will act as a deterrent to potential criminals." Damilola's mother Gloria, 57, who campaigned to save youngsters from violence, died last year of a heart attack while out walking near her home in Shooters Hill, South London. But friends said she had died of a broken heart after enduring three trials and a string of police blunders in her fight for justice. Four youths went on trial for murder in 2002 butwent freewhen evidence from the key witness, a 14-year-old girl, was thrown out. Areport slammed police failings in the investigation. The Preddies were cleared of murder at a trial four years later but retried re·tried v. Past tense and past participle of retry. and found guilty of manslaughter in October 2006. Danny had eight months added to his sentence in November after punching a fellow inmate at Portland Young Offenders' Institution in Dorset. SUNDAY EMAIL See e-mail. d.taylor@sundaymail.co.uk CAPTION(S): Chilling: Killer Preddie's scrawled letter from behind bars coaxes penpal to have sex with him; Evil: Preddie left terrified ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. 10-year-old to die in a filthy stairwell; Innocent: Young Damilola was stabbed and left to bleed to death |
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