Damilola Taylor killer Rickie Preddie freed from prison

Rickie Preddie was 13 at the time of Damilola's death

One of the men convicted of killing 10-year-old Damilola Taylor has been released from prison.

Rickie Preddie, 23, was jailed for eight years for manslaughter in October 2006. His brother Danny, 22, also got the same sentence at the Old Bailey.

Damilola was stabbed with a broken bottle in November 2000 in Peckham, south London.

Preddie was released after serving two-thirds of his sentence, including time spent in custody on remand.

A spokesman for the family's charity, The Damilola Taylor Trust, said Damilola's father Richard knew about Preddie's impending release and would not comment on it.

He added: "He has done his time and we have to respect that."

'Strict supervision'

Nigerian-born Damilola, who had only been in the UK a few months, was found bleeding from a leg wound in a stairwell on a housing estate in Peckham. It is thought he was attacked as he made his way home from an after-school club.

There have been three trials and the Preddie brothers, from Peckham, went on trial in 2006 for murder after new forensic evidence was found.

It is believed Ricky Preddie, who was 13 when he killed Damilola, was transferred to Wormwood Scrubs prison, west London, on Tuesday night and was let out on Wednesday morning.

Damilola was stabbed in the leg with a broken bottle in Peckham in 2000

The Ministry of Justice said it could not comment on individual cases but said that offenders such as Preddie were monitored on their release.

A spokeswoman said: "If an offender commits a violent offence prior to 4 April 2005 and receives a determinate sentence of four years or more from the courts, they become eligible for release by the parole board at the half way point of their sentence, or they are automatically released at the two thirds point.

She added: "Once released they will be subject to strict supervision in the community.

"All offenders subject to probation supervision on release from prison have to adhere to a set of strict conditions.

"They are subject to recall to custody if they breach their conditions or their behaviour indicates that it is no longer safe to allow them to remain in the community."

Danny Preddie, who was also convicted of manslaughter and ordered to serve the same sentence as his brother, remains in prison serving a sentence for another offence.