Romanian crooks let off to stay in Brit prisons as cells in home country 'too small'
JUDGES have refused to kick two Romanian criminals out of the UK because jail cells in their home country are too small.
Romanian crooks let off deportation because jail cells in their home country are too small
Lawyers for Ionel-Remus Grecu and Cosmin-Ionut Bagarea said cells must be at least three metres (32ft) square but are just two metres square in their home country.
Taxpayers will cover court costs and legal aid bills after High Court judges said the cramped conditions breached the European Convention on Human Rights.
The judges want assurances from Romanian authorities that the crooks will have more space before extradition requests are granted.
Lord Justice Irwin and Mr Justice Collins were told that Grecu, 42, and Bagarea, 39, would be sent to semi-open prisons in Romania.
Grecu fled to Britain to dodge a prison sentence for membership of a violent burglary gang.
The judges claimed sending home the lags would breach European Court of Human Rights
Bagarea was given a suspended sentence in 2012 for growing cannabis but fled the country.
Both are appealing extradition to Romania, where 19 prisons were hit by protests against poor conditions and overcrowding last year.
Bagarea’s Hampshire-based half-brother George Munteanu said the philosophy graduate had landed a job as a luggage handler, adding: “He likes it here. He has made a fresh start.”