Víctor Castigador

Víctor Castigador (born 1954 in the Philippines) is a murderer who led an infamous grudge attack on an amusement arcade in London which burned two security guards to death and badly injured two other people.

Castigador entered the UK illegally in 1985 and eventually got a job at an amusement arcade in Soho, London. Although he continued to work there, he and the arcade's proprietor developed a rift and Castigador, feeling a grudge, decided to concoct a plan to rob the arcade.

With four younger accomplices, Castigador broke into the arcade in the late hours of August 2nd, 1989. The arcade had just closed and the relief manager and cashier were going through the evening's takings when guns were pointed at their heads. The safe was duly emptied of cash.

The manager and cashier, along with two security guards from Sri Lanka, were then forced at gunpoint into the inner cage of the arcade's security vault. At this point, three of the robbers withdrew, but Castigador and teenage accomplice Paul Clinton stayed behind. They tied the hostages up, poured white spirit over them and tossed in lit matches before leaving, locking the door behind them.

The two security guards died of burns and asphyixiation but the manager and cashier were still alive and badly injured - with 30 per cent burns - when more staff arrived the next morning and raised the alarm. They identified Castigador as the chief culprit and he was arrested, along with Clinton and three others.

Both men went on trial in February 1990 and were convicted of two murders, two attempted murders and one charge of robbery. Castigador was given a minimum recommendation of 25 years by the judge.

Castigador was later issued with a whole life tariff from the Home Secretary, and remains in prison to this day, even though the European Court of Human Rights later ruled that whole life tariffs were unlawful if passed by a politician rather than a member of the judiciary. This means that Castigador could be out of prison in 2015, by which time he will be 60 years old, if he can convince the parole board that he will not re-offend.

Clinton, whose young age was taken into account, was given a 20 year tariff. Three other people were also jailed. Clinton appealed against the length of his tariff in 2003 but this was rejected, effectively condemning him to at least six more years in prison.

References

* http://www.guardian.co.uk/prisons/story/0,,467198,00.html
* http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/145_611.htm