Britain's probation system has come under scrutiny after four of six men convicted of torturing and killing a girl were found to be free on probation.
The case involved a London-based gang who last May kidnapped Mary-Ann Leneghan, 16, and her 18-year-old friend, who could not be named for legal reasons. They were taken to a park, where Leneghan was repeatedly stabbed and her friend was shot in the head. The older girl survived because the home-made bullet broke into fragments on impact and failed to penetrate her skull, The Independent reported.
Monday, the guilty verdict was given in a court in Reading, and the men's violent criminal backgrounds were revealed. One of the men was sentenced in 2001, when he was 13, to 3.5 years for abducting a 13-year-old boy with learning difficulties, hanging him upside down and beating him.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke said it was "vital" that lessons were learned from the Leneghan's murder. He said he would be studying the case as part of a review of the system of managing criminals on probation.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
