The father of a toddler abused by a nursery worker in a “tragic” campaign of cruelty said he was “upset and upset” that the worker was to be deported to Poland on Thursday, less than five months into his eight-year sentence.
After a jury at Thames Crown Court in Kingston, Polish national Roksana Lecka was found guilty of cruelty to 21 children last June. London In 2023 and 2024 she was found to have punched, punched, pinched and kicked children aged between 18 months and two years while working at two London nurseries.
The count will be sentenced in September Eight years imprisonmentJudge Plaschkes KC found her guilty of acts of “implicit violence” and described her behavior as “reckless”.
Despite her lengthy sentence, the victim’s family were told last week that Leka would be deported to Poland, according to the government. Early Termination Scheme For foreign criminals. The scheme does not require offenders to serve the remainder of their sentence in a second country, meaning the count runs freely.
The father told the Guardian that it was “upset and disappointing” to learn of Lecka’s imminent deportation, after some relief from the sentence that the matter was closed and the family could move on.
“All the work that was done, the public money spent, the trauma of sitting through the trial, looking at all the evidence – it all seems pointless now, because the actual punishment will not be carried out.”
In addition to their personal upset, he said he and other affected families are concerned that the nursery worker may harm other children in Poland. “Lakka was denied bail on several occasions during his pre-trial custody, being identified as a flight risk and a danger to the public,” he said.
“There was concern that she would flee to Poland … but now, after all this time, the pain, the vast expense and the emotional trauma of the investigation, the trial and the sentencing, we have effectively ended it at the same time. All we have as victims is a sense of judgment and sentence. Justice has not been served in this case.”
Munira Wilson, the Lib Dem MP for Twickenham, told the Guardian that she had been contacted by “terrified” victims’ families to learn of Lecka’s deportation.
“Don’t forget she was convicted of child cruelty to 21 babies,” Wilson said. “The families want justice, but many of them worry that she could harm children in Poland and elsewhere.
“I understand that our prisons are full and ministers are trying to free up prison space and want to deport foreign nationals as quickly as possible. But victims want justice. This approach means that serious criminals are escaping justice and it seems very unfair.”
After raising the matter in Parliament and writing to the Home Office, ministers told Wilson that because she was on pre-trial remand, Lekka was eligible for deportation on 7 October 2025 – less than a fortnight after she was sentenced to eight years in prison. She will be banned from returning to the UK indefinitely.
Recent changes to early dismissal scheme The proportion of foreign offenders who must be convicted before being eligible for deportation was reduced from 50% to 30%. Further changes coming into effect this year would allow foreign criminals to be deported immediately after being sentenced, meaning they would effectively avoid justice, critics say.
“These early removal schemes … are a really egregious example of an administration prioritizing removals over criminal justice,” said Sarah Singer, professor of refugee law at the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. “They think it’s a political point scorer, but it hurts the families of the victims.
“The interest in removing people from the UK seems to be an interest in making sure people stay in prison. I’m sure that’s also informed by the overcrowding crisis in prisons at the moment. But they’re trying to skirt the problem. It doesn’t actually solve the problem.”
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
