Romanian teen allowed into Britain with a criminal record battered a pensioner within an inch of his life in unprovoked attack
Florin Ripa, 18, left an elderly trainspotter in a coma for 10 days after punching and kicking him and stamping on his head
A ROMANIAN yob who savagely beat a pensioner for no reason was allowed into the UK despite having a history of offending, it has emerged.
Florin Ripa, 18, launched a brutal and unprovoked attack on OAP David Cooper, 70, on 7 November 2015 – leaving him in a coma for 10 days.
The elderly trainspotter was walking to catch a train when he was set upon by Ripa, who a court heard was drunk after downing two-and-a-half litres of vodka.
After punching him to the floor Ripa rained down blows on the helpless pensioner, kicking him up to 15 times in the head and body.
The vicious thug then stamped on his victim – who was by this point unconscious – jumping on his head with both feet.
But that wasn’t the end of his brutal, drunken crime spree.
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Ripa – who had also been smoking cannabis and claimed he didn’t remember his actions – went on to rob and beat 61-year-old Linda Murphy just an hour later.
He punched her in the face and kicked her twice before making off with her bag – containing just £15 in cash.
After admitting grievous bodily harm with intent and robbery at Wolverhampton crown court, Ripa, of Tipton, West Midlands, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
But there was outrage after it emerged he was allowed into the country to commit his crimes when he had a history of committing similar offences.
The teen arrived in the UK in 2014, and was waved through despite having been arrested in Paris on charges of aggravated theft.
Not only that, but he had actually also been arrested and served a six month jail sentence in Britain since his arrival.
In fact, he was only released from custody after his arrest for attempted robbery in London around a month before his savage attacks on pensioners David and Linda in the West Midlands.
Judge Nicholas Webb expressed his shock that Ripa was able to slip through the net, given his criminal past.
Sentencing, he said: “I am in no doubt that you pose a significant risk of serious harm to the public.”
Mr Cooper survived the attack, but spent three weeks in intensive care and is still being looked after by his daughter seven months later.
Judge Webb warned Ripa that he was extending his period on licence by five years and said he would likely be deported upon release.
The mugger’s defence lawyers said he was sorry for the incident and wanted to apologise to his victims.
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