Violent Pakistani immigrants are still at large in Manchester, England

John Scheerhout:

FOUR violent criminals from Greater Manchester who should have been deported at the end of their prison sentences remain at large.

Police have been unable to trace the men despite a thorough investigation.

The Home Office provided Greater Manchester Police with a list of five criminals the department ruled should have been deported following their sentences but were not. One has been traced and is being deported. The remaining four have not been found.

Three of them - believed to be from Pakistan - were arrested in Bolton on suspicion of violent disorder in 2002 following an incident in a curry house in Rusholme.

The fourth was arrested in Cheetham Hill and a fifth was stopped in Wigan for separate, violent incidents.

All of them were released from prison last summer. But instead of being deported they were allowed to stay in Britain.

A police source said: "One of them was found but the rest have not resurfaced in Manchester. They haven't been arrested.

"They haven't claimed benefits. They haven't come to the notice of the police in Manchester. They could be anywhere."

Police are now attempting to trace a second list of criminals convicted of non-violent offences.

It is understood detectives hunting the "missing" offenders are not looking for anyone convicted of the most serious offences - such as murder or rape – in Greater Manchester.

More than 200 of the original 1,019 foreign prisoners released in Britain have reoffended.

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