Twenty cops net killer of Damilola Taylor

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Ricky Preddie recalled to jail again

Release ... Ricky Preddie strolls streets on licence

THE raging killer of Damilola Taylor screamed and fought 20 cops trying to take him back to jail.

Maddened Ricky Preddie, 24, fled out of a bail hostel window to escape being recalled to prison after just 16 days' freedom.

Onlookers said he was "screaming his head off" and put up a fight before he was overpowered and bundled into a van.

It was the SECOND time Preddie had been given early release and then carted back to jail for breaching licence terms.

Last night he was back in London's tough Pentonville Prison after his dramatic arrest.

Preddie tried to do a runner from the hostel where he had lived since being released when he heard probation workers calling for back-up.

Killed ... Damilola was ten

"But the police restrained him on the ground.

"They picked him up, bent him over, handcuffed him and bundled him into their van. It was quite a scene."

Cops tipped off probation officers that Preddie had been associating with former gang members in Peckham, South London, where ten-year-old Damilola was stabbed in 2000. He is banned from entering that area.

Two weeks ago The Sun snapped him wandering another area talking to strangers, laughing to himself and walking down dead-end streets.

Last night Damilola's dad Richard, 63, demanded a public inquiry and slammed the Parole Board for releasing Preddie five years into an eight-year manslaughter term.

Dad ... angry Richard Taylor

Campaigner Mr Taylor — who was informed of the recall by the media, not the probation service — said: "I am very upset and angry with the Parole Board for the way they handled this."

Gary Trowsdale of the Damilola Taylor Trust said the system had "failed badly".

It was the THIRD shot Preddie had at early release. He was freed in September 2010 but recalled in March 2011 for the same breach of returning to his old haunts.

Last October he was due to be released again but beat up a fellow lag and blew his chance.

He and his brother Danny were jailed in 2006, after three trials, for killing Damilola.

Danny, now 23, was released last September and appears to have stayed out of trouble since.

The Ministry of Justice said offenders out on licence were subject to strict conditions.