A homeless man has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 26 years for the murder of a 62-year-old carer in Hyde Park, London. Hani Khalaf, 22, an Egyptian national, kicked, punched and stamped Jairo Medina to death near Speakers' Corner on 11 August last year, hours after being bailed for shoplifting.
The Old Bailey heard that Khalaf had arrived in the UK in 2014 in the back of a lorry, posing as a Syrian asylum seeker. He survived by stealing food and clothes, and had been bailed on at least six occasions despite authorities failing to deport him. Judge Wendy Joseph QC said Khalaf was sent back into the community repeatedly because deportation arrangements could not be made in a reasonable time, and that Mr Medina paid for this failure with his life.
Khalaf pocketed Medina's cash and stole his mobile phone, which he tried to sell hours later. He was arrested on 16 August for fare evasion and again on 18 August for shoplifting, when an officer recognised him from CCTV images. Following a retrial, Khalaf was found guilty of murder. The judge described it as a 'murder for gain', regardless of Medina's reasons for being in the park.
Medina, originally from Colombia, was described by friends and family as a kind and peace-loving man who devoted his life to caring for others. His brother said Medina had been given an award in 2015 for his service to care in London. Khalaf is likely to be deported to Egypt to serve the remainder of his sentence once he is no longer a category A prisoner.
