Moira Jones's mother concern over tracking of foreign criminals

Bea Jones, mother of Moira Jones who was killed by Marek Harcar. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Campaigner Bea Jones said she still did not feel enough was being done, seven years after her daughter was raped and beaten to death by Slovakian national Marek Harcar.

Harcar had 13 convictions in Slovakia before killing 40-year-old Ms Jones in 2008, just yards from her home in Queen’s Park, Glasgow.

Her mother has campaigned since to stop serious violent and sex offenders from abroad entering the UK unnoticed.

Marek Harca was found guilty of the rape and murder of Moira Jones, after convictions in his home country Glasgow Picture: Crown Office/PA Wire

Notorious cases include 24-year old Pole Robert Buczek, who murdered 85-year old Edinburgh woman Eleanor Whitelaw in her home in 2014 . He had assaulted another pensioner in Poland when he was just 14.

And 41-year old Vitas Plytnykas was jailed in 2008 with accomplice Aleksandras Skirda, 20, for killing Jolanta Bledaite, 35, whose remains washed up on the beach at Arbroath. He already had a conviction for manslaughter in Germany.  The new report by SOMEC (Serious Offending By European Criminals) stated that cross-border teamwork was already established for crimes including terrorism, human trafficking, child sexual exploitation and football hooliganism.

It recommends risk assessments and details of convictions are shared as soon as a convict is released from jail, instead of waiting for them to offend abroad.

But Mrs Jones, from Staffordshire, said she was disappointed.

She said: “I wanted the report to say this shouldn’t have happened and spell out the mistakes made but I know no-one is going to admit that.

“I was disappointed because I wanted so much to do something that was going to stop it happening again.

“When I made my long speech at the Home Office all those years ago I said this needed to be done and I was doing it for Moira so the same thing wouldn’t happen again.

“And if it didn’t happen soon I would feel that I had let my daughter down. I’m happy the report is out but not satisfied all this is good enough, although I don’t know what else they can do.”

Academics at De Montfort University, Leicester, spoke to law enforcement and probation officers across 23 of Europe’s 28 member states.

The report took two years to complete.

James Brokenshire, minister for immigration, said: “We welcome the report and will use it to continue making the case for greater action with our European partners.”