A FOREIGN rapist and murder was allowed to stay in the UK after no checks were made into his serious criminal background.

Lithuanian national Lauris Terasas, 30, from Newport was granted leave to remain in Britain for five years after he’d entered the country in 2020.

Prosecutor Rose Glanville told the city’s crown court that the defendant had been asked by the authorities if he had any previous convictions.

Terasas answered yes but no background checks were made to reveal that he had been locked up for 10 years for rape, murder and robbery in 2011.

In 2016 he was jailed for three years and 11 months for battery.

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His violent past only came to light a year after his arrival on these shores when he was arrested for a driving offence in London and proper checks were carried out.

It took a further year before Terasas was deported and barred from entering the UK.

He was arrested in Newport after he’d returned illegally last month to visit his girlfriend who lives in the city.

Terasas had flown to London Luton Airport and used a passport with a different name on it to previous identity documents to re-enter the country.

The defendant, of Stow Hill, pleaded guilty to knowingly enter the UK in breach of a deportation order on January 18.

Ben Waters representing Terasas said: “The defendant came to visit his partner who lives in the Newport and he had a return flight booked to go back on January 28.”

His lawyer added that his client would serve half of his prison sentence in custody before being held in a detention centre while his deportation was organised.

Judge Daniel Williams told Terasas: “I am satisfied that you knew you had no right to enter the UK.

“The passport you used was in a different name to a previous passport and other identification documents.

“There is a legitimate public concern about breaches of border controls.”

The defendant was jailed for 18 months.