Posted on 05/27/2002 8:09:54 AM PDT by Bubba_Leroy
THE widow of the murdered headteacher, Philip Lawrence, was asked to apologise to the youth who killed her husband because he was upset by comments she had made, it emerged last night.
Frances Lawrence was telephoned by a Probation Service official after Learco Chindamo claimed he had been offended by her criticism on television of his lack of remorse.
The official asked her to say sorry to Chindamo, now 21, who was jailed for life in 1996 for stabbing the headteacher outside his school in Maida Vale, West London. Mrs Lawrence was so infuriated that she complained to the probation officers superiors.
David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, later offered her his personal apology. A Home Office spokesman last night apologised publicly for the request made by the official and described it as entirely inappropriate.
The chief probation officer for the area and a representative of the National Probation Service visited Mrs Lawrence to apologise personally. Appropriate action was taken against the officer involved.
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