Jamaican gang that used rape as its initiation in London

icSouthLondon:

IMMIGRATION chiefs faced fury last night for allowing a member of a sordid Jamaican rape gang to make South London his hunting ground.

Sheldon Stewart, 26, was said to be part of the Buckles mob - a violent criminal outfit responsible for a spree of vile attacks in the Caribbean.

Their hallmark is said to be a sickening initiation ceremony where new recruits are instructed to abduct and rape.

Yet despite being know in his homeland as a gang member, Stewart, 26, was able to move to Britain where he has:

*raped a schoolgirl at gunpoint

* held a knife to another woman's throat as he and a twisted accomplice tried to violate her

*taunted women who were prepared to stand up to him in court

*boasted of keeping young girls as SLAVES

Stewart was behind bars this week, facing a 12-year stretch for rape, attempted rape and possessing a gun.

But a scar-faced accomplice who took turns in raping the 15-year-old and is also a suspected Buckles member is still at large.

Victim support groups say the case highlights the disturbing ease in which potential sex attackers are able to slip unnoticed into the UK.

Their fury follows the rape and murder of schoolgirl Jeshma Raithatha by predator Viktors Dembovskis - welcomed to the UK despite a string of vile convictions in his native Latvia.

Immigration chiefs allowed Stewart into Britain in 2002, seemingly oblivious to the potential danger he posed.

This was because, like many gang members in the Caribbean, he lived under several street names making it hard for officials to keep accurate criminal records.

Tighter border controls were introduced in 2003, requiring Jamaican nationals to declare criminal convictions when applying to the UK, but even these are "not an automatic barrier" to the UK, the Home Office says.

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