The widow of murdered headmaster Philip Lawrence has accused the Government of cruelty and injustice towards his killer after he was transferred from an open to a closed jail.

Frances Lawrence criticised the Home Secretary's decision to move Learco Chindamo from Ford Open Prison, near Arundel, to more secure conditions as a "retrograde step" that could hinder his rehabilitation.

She said: "I don't really want to think of it as taking his side but I feel that there has been an injustice and the Government has created that injustice. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with it."

Chindamo carried out the murder when he was 15 but is now 25. It is understood he has made good progress in the prison system.

He was transferred to Ford last August but in May was returned to closed conditions at Blakenhurst prison, Redditch, Worcestershire. This week he won permission to challenge the switch in the High Court.