A nursery worker sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing 21 babies in west London has been living freely in her native Poland after serving just 14 months, authorities have confirmed. Roksana Lecka, 23, was jailed in September for pinching, punching and kicking children as young as ten months at two nurseries between 2023 and 2024.
Lecka was deported to Poland in February under the UK Government's Early Removal Scheme. However, Polish officials said they lacked the power to detain her upon arrival because no formal international co-operation procedures were followed. Major Dagmara Bielec of the Nadwislanski Border Guard Unit stated that Lecka's return did not occur under any official procedures between Poland and Great Britain.
According to Polish reports, Lecka was not entered into relevant criminal databases or international alert systems, meaning border guards had to process her under normal entry procedures. She landed in Warsaw on February 5, but her current whereabouts are unknown.
At her sentencing, Judge Sarah Plaschkes KC described Lecka's actions as "sadistic," noting she "pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked" children and toppled them "headfirst into cots." Lecka, who admitted seven counts of cruelty and was convicted of 14 more, claimed she was sleep-deprived and addicted to cannabis and vapes.
One father of a victim said the deportation after 14 months was "completely inappropriate" and undermined the trial process. He told the BBC: "We felt it undermined all that time and emotion that had gone into the trial... to get a sentence brought a sense of closure... but then for that sentence not to be served, it was a bit of a hollow feeling."
Lecka is banned from returning to the UK. The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.
