A murderer who killed up to 400 people in his homeland has been granted asylum in Britain.
John Thuo, 27, who butchered many of his victims in machete attacks in his native Kenya, has spent a decade living here in rent-free accommodation provided by the National Asylum Support Service.
He is believed to receive an allowance of up to £160 a month from the service, the Home Office unit responsible for asylum seekers’ housing.
Thuo, who was a member of the outlawed Mungiki sect in Kenya, admitted at an immigration tribunal that he killed ‘about 100 to 400 people’.
He also took part in female genital mutilation.
He was granted leave to remain in the UK for three years after an appeal, under the Human Rights Act, to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.
He says deporting him would infringe his human rights because he would face execution by the sect on his return.
Approached at his home in suburban Coventry, where neighbours knew nothing about his brutal history, he said: ‘It’s true – I killed a lot of people. I don’t like talking about my past. I feel guilty for what I’ve done. I feel remorse.’
Thuo, who has done a stint as a removal man in the UK, said: ‘I’ve started a new life here and I’m looking for regular work. If I go back, they’ll behead me.’
Asked if he is monitored by the Home Office, he said: ‘No, I don’t have to meet anyone. I’m free.’
One of his neighbours in the West Midlands city said: ‘I had no idea about him killing all those people. It’s terrifying. There’s a lot of children who live in this street.’
The neighbour added: ‘He’s quite a big drinker. He’ll buy bottles of vodka and get drunk. When he does that he gets aggressive.’
Thuo’s appeal against being removed from the UK was granted in March after an expert witness testified that Mungiki members were known to behead those who had fled the organisation.
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After his three years are up, he will have to apply for an extension or be removed.Thuo told the hearing in London he had joined the Mungiki in Nairobi when he was just ten, but rose through the ranks to become a senior member running a security racket.
Thuo (pictured right, green hoodie) lives in Coventry, where he kept his identity a secret until he needed NHS help for mental health problemsIn 2002 he took part in a revenge attack on villagers who had killed two members of the sect. He butchered two civilians with a machete. In another incident, he killed two police officers.
The Mungiki was outlawed in Kenya in 2002, and Thuo arrived here as an illegal immigrant in August 2003.
He kept his identity a secret until he needed NHS help for mental health problems.
Paul Flynn, the Labour MP for Newport, said: ‘It is extremely worrying that someone who has admitted to killing so many people is not being investigated by the police in this country.
And it is even more worrying he is able to successfully claim asylum despite what he says he has done.’
A spokesman for the Aegis Trust, which campaigns to prevent crimes against humanity, said: ‘Anyone suspected of international crimes should be held to account.’
The Home Office said: ‘We are disappointed by the tribunal’s decision, but we can only appeal when a specific error of law is identified in the ruling. In this case there were no grounds for appeal.’
