Killer carer paid to return home

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/manchester/8361360.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A childminder who killed a 16-month-old boy was given money from the government to return home to Malaysia after her release from prison.

Agnes Wong, 29, was convicted in January 2008 of the manslaughter of Hugo Wang at her Salford flat.

Manchester Crown Court heard she had picked him up by his ankles and flung him against either a bed or a sofa.

She was given the money, understood to be £4,500, under a scheme to encourage foreign inmates to accept deportation.

Bite marks

Wong was paid £120 a week to look after the boy as his parents worked long hours in a Chinese restaurant in Southport, Merseyside.

She had been looking after the child at her flat in Frank Cowin Court, Fitzwilliam Street, in January 2007 when he suffered severe head injuries.

Other injuries noted at hospital, where he died the next day, included bruising to his legs, bite marks and a burn.

Wong was released in July when, after time spent on remand was taken into account, she had served half of her five-year sentence.

We don't want foreign criminals in the UK David Wood, UK Border Agency

She left the UK on a plane from London Heathrow about two weeks after applying for the one-off payment under a government assistance scheme for reintegration.

The Facilitated Returns Scheme was introduced in October 2006 in order to encourage foreign prisoners to comply with efforts to return them to their home country, according to the Home Office.

Returnees are eligible to claim reintegration assistance once they have returned to their home country.

David Wood, director of the UK Border Agency's (UKBA) Criminality and Detention Group, said: "Ms Wong served her required sentence in the UK and was returned home under the Facilitated Returns Scheme.

"We don't want foreign criminals in the UK.

"Every day that we can get these individuals out of the country early removes the risk they present to UK citizens and saves our taxpayers over £100 a night in detention costs as well as administrative and court costs.

"This is why we use the scheme to remove as many foreign criminals from the UK as possible.

"In 2008 we removed over 5,000 foreign criminals - a record number."