A nursery worker who was jailed for abusing 21 babies has walked free and could care for children again after she was deported back to her native Poland just months into her eight-year sentence.

Roksana Lecka, who was jailed in September after she admitted to harming seven children and was convicted of abusing another 14, was freed and deported out of the UK after just five months on Thursday.

Labour MP Munira Wilson has warned there could be a trend of foreign offenders coming to Britain, committing crimes and being tried in the UK before being set free and deported without families ever seeing true justice.

It comes as Labour ramp up their efforts to deport foreign prisoners faster, but critics warn this could see them evading prison time in the UK.

Lecka, who defender her twisted actions by claiming she was sleep deprived and hooked on cannabis and vapes, was put on a flight back home to Poland on Thursday.

The families of the babies who were pinched, punched and kicked, at a 1,900-a-month Montessori nursery in Twickenham, south-west London, say they have been completely blindsided by the decision, having been given less than a week's notice.

Although Lecka has been banned from returning to the UK, there is no obligation for her to serve her remaining seven-and-a-half years in a Polish jail and the families fear she could simply go and work at a nursery in her native country.

Ms Wilson, the MP for Twickenham, told the Daily Mail: 'The victims want to see justice. It's not unreasonable to expect that if somebody comes to our country and breaks our laws, they should feel the full force of our criminal justice system.

'They shouldn't be given a free pass to a shorter sentence. As soon as they've served their time and the victims have seen justice have been delivered, then at that point they should absolutely be deported.

'I'm afraid this case shows what I think we're going to be seeing more and more of because the recent changes of the law will actually potentially see the offenders being deported as soon as they're even given a sentence. 

'We will see more and more criminals walking free - albeit not on British soil - back in their home country. All the government has to do is notify the relevant authorities in that country as to why this person's being deported. 

'I think this is going to be a way of foreign offenders actually evading justice. As much as we want to get them out of the country, we also want to see justice delivered.'

It comes after Labour made changes to the Early Removal Scheme last July so that foreign prisoners will face deportation 30 per cent into their sentence rather than 50 per cent. 

And just two weeks ago, the Sentencing Act 2026 received Royal Assent, introducing major reforms including how foreign criminals could be immediately deported after sentencing, evading prison time in the UK.

Ms Wilson said she has spoken to several of Lecka's victims' families who have been rocked by the news after sitting through a 'traumatising' trial.

She added: 'They don't feel that just throwing her out the country and not letting her back in is justice. There is a concern that she may go on to harm other children in Poland.  

'In months or years from now, there could be some horrendous child abuse scandal in Poland or in another country that she's moved on to - and it could be that the paper trail then leads back to the UK, and a woman who is tried and convicted here, but essentially deported and left to commit awful crimes against children again.'

Lawyers representing the families told the Daily Mail that while it is 'reassuring' Lecka cannot return to the UK, they fear the 'possibility of her being free to move on with her life... with the possibility of working at a nursery or with children in the future'.

Jemma Till, a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell said: 'The harm Ms Lecka caused has left deep and lasting emotional scars, and the families continue to navigate the consequences of her behaviour every day. 

'News that Ms Lecka is now due to be deported has understandably caused significant upset and frustration among the parents we represent. 

'Many feel that this development has come unexpectedly and for those families, the sudden shift in her circumstances has created fresh uncertainty. 

'The parents we represent want to ensure that their children's experiences are not minimised alongside accountability, safeguarding, and the reassurance that other child will not be placed at risk. 

The outrage over the case was raised by Ms Wilson who wrote to the Home Office on Tuesday and brought Lecka's deportation up at PMQ's on Wednesday after the victims' parents were only alerted to it on January 30.

In a letter to Labour minister Alex Norris, she said: 'This case, which attracted significant media attention during the course of the trial and sentencing due to the nature of the crimes, raises questions around redress and justice for victims, as well as safeguarding.'

She added: 'The parents have described Lecka as a 'huge threat to society' and believe there is a significant risk of her re-offending and of children, whether in Poland or elsewhere, coming to harm at her hands. 

'They feel that all they have as victims is the verdict and the notion of a sentence, and that justice has in this case sadly not been done.'

Responding to Ms Wilson, Mr Norris said confirmed: 'Whilst Lecka is not required to serve the remainder of her sentence in Poland, we have made Polish law enforcement aware of her convictions so that appropriate safeguarding actions can be taken by the Polish authorities.'

A Home Office spokesman said: 'Lecka poses a clear risk to public safety, and we, as in all cases, have worked tirelessly to secure her deportation. 

'She has joined nearly 60,000 people with no right to remain who have been deported or removed from the United Kingdom by this government.'

'We will not allow foreign criminals and illegal migrants to exploit our laws. We are reforming human rights laws and replacing the broken appeals system so we can scale up deportations.'

In September, Lecka, 22, was jailed for her campaign of 'sadistic' assaults where she punched, kicked, threw and pinched children as young as ten months old.

She confessed to seven counts of child cruelty, including kicking a boy in the face and punching a girl in the side.

Lecka denied 17 other similar charges, but jurors found her guilty of 14 counts of child cruelty during the six months she worked at Twickenham Green Nursery, which was a part of Riverside Nurseries group but has since closed.

She was found to have abused infants at a second Montessori nursery; however, her acts were only found when she was sent home for pinching multiple children at the nursery.

During a trial at Kingston Crown Court, Lecka tried to justify her behaviour by claiming she was sleep deprived from smoking cannabis all night with her boyfriend.

The Polish national previously told the court: 'I can't remember the things I was doing because I was smoking cannabis that was affecting my memory.'

When Lecka, who worked in a £1,900-a-month Montessori nursery, arrives in the Eastern European country, her probation or jail time will be determined by the officials there.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We will not allow foreign criminals and illegal migrants to exploit our laws.

'We are reforming human rights laws and replacing the broken appeals system so we can scale up deportations.

'All Foreign National Offenders who receive a prison sentence in the UK are referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity.'

In a campaign of terror, Lecka pinched and scratched toddlers' legs and stomachs while working at the nursery in southwest London.

Devastated parents began reporting unexplained injuries on their children in March 2024.

However, managers at the nursery did not discover Lecka was the culprit, and she continued to care for toddlers under two until she was arrested on June 28, 2024.

CCTV footage shown to the court showed Lecka vaping in the darkness in a baby sleeping room, where there was at least one child.

Meanwhile, shocking police interview footage showed how the 22-year-old seemed 'bored' and showed no emotion as the gravity of her criminality was laid bare.

One clip showed Lecka appearing to play with her hair while she was asked about a baby 'on a mattress, he seems to be crying'.

When Lecka did not respond, a female officer paused to say: 'Sorry am I boring you?'

Additional footage showed the 22-year-old repeatedly responding 'no comment' to every question lodged by police.

The vicious nursery worker also showed little to no emotion when pictures of the injuries she caused children in her care were shown to her.

Detectives trawled through 300 hours of CCTV footage in the space of just ten days - footage which laid bare the scale of Lecka's violence against toddlers and babies.

There were no issues regarding safeguarding when Lecka was hired, the court was told.

Parents of the victims spoke of their 'overwhelming guilt' at sending their infants to the Riverside Nursery in Twickenham, southwest London.

Detective Inspector Sian Hutchings, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: '(Lecka has) never given any explanation for her behaviour and what she's done, which... has only added to the upset for the parents, who have been immensely strong throughout the criminal investigation and been very dignified in their response.'

Lecka 'was visibly bored' in the police interview, gave no comment answers, 'and didn't appear bothered by the seriousness of the allegations', the detective added.

This shocked and frustrated the lead investigating officers, Ms Hutchings said.

She said it only 'added to the upset being caused to the families because we were unable to provide any explanation to them.'

'She's never shown any remorse or any empathy throughout the trial or the investigation.'