Abusive nursery worker's deportation 'horrendous'

The parents of babies abused by a nursery worker in west London say the decision to deport her after serving less than 15% of her prison sentence is "horrendous".

Polish national Roksana Lecka abused 21 babies at two London nurseries between October 2023 and June 2024 and offences included punching, kicking and smacking the children.

Lecka, 23, was jailed for eight years last September but was deported to Poland in February after serving 14 months as part of an Early Release Scheme.

She may face no further consequences in Poland. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said she "is banned for life from returning to the UK". The Polish government has been asked to comment.

Twenty babies were abused at the Riverside Nursery in Twickenham, which is now closed, and one was abused at Little Munchkins in Hounslow.

Lecka had admitted seven counts of cruelty and was found guilty of another 14.

A father whose son was physically abused by Lecka said her deportation early in her sentence was "completely inappropriate".

He is among other parents who told the BBC they are now calling for child abusers, and other serious offenders, to be ineligible for early release.

The Labour government introduced the early release scheme in 2024 after prisons almost reached full capacity.

The victim's father said Lecka’s deportation was "really hard to swallow".

"We felt it undermined all that time and emotion that had gone into the trial," he said.

"Preparing our witness statements and our victim impact statements, going through the trauma of that whole investigation and trial, to get a sentence brought a sense of closure and we could all move on from it.

"But then for that sentence not to be served, it was a bit of a hollow feeling."

He said there was a "swathe of cases where it's just completely inappropriate for this scheme" and that it was having an "undermining effect on the judicial system".

The father added there was "too much focus on cost savings, rather than upholding the principles of the system".

Lecka's future is now in the hands of Polish authorities and she is not expected to spend any further time behind bars, the BBC understands.

While UK officials have informed their Polish counterparts of Lecka's convictions, there is still a chance that she will work with children again.

A mother told BBC London her son was left with heavy bruises after being pinched by the nursery worker.

Two years later, he still has to sleep in his mother's bed because of the trauma of the offences.