Albanian murderer is found secretly living in the UK... for a second time

Published: 22:27, 17 May 2026 | Updated: 22:27, 17 May 2026 An Albanian murderer is back in the UK despite having been booted out more than a decade ago, the Daily Mail can reveal. Afrim Sinani, 54, was seen prowling a bustling high street last week and has been traced to a suburban address. His new neighbours are probably oblivious to his vicious past. Sinani shot a man in a revenge killing and was jailed for 20 years in 1996. But he escaped and, with his wife, entered the UK illegally on a lorry in 2000. He lived in Ilford, Essex, with his wife and three children before he was tracked down and extradited to Albania in 2010. Incredibly, he is now back in the UK, living with his family in a council-owned home in north east London, where properties have sold for more than £400,000. It appears Sinani is intent on keeping a low profile, often leaving the house in the early hours of the morning. His extradition came after a years-long international manhunt. Using the fake name of Afrim Pulaj, Sinani had been granted asylum and a British passport after lying about being a Kosovan refugee. He, his wife and three children enjoyed £120,000 in benefits until 2010. Sinani's family were allowed to remain in the UK after he was deported. Afrim Sinani pictured walking near his north-east London home. The Albanian murderer is back in the UK despite being kicked out more than a decade ago It is not known how or when he returned to the UK, but the Mail understands he was freed from an Albanian jail in 2017. In 2021, a construction firm was registered under his wife and son's names at their current London address. When the Mail visited, Sinani's wife told us he was not in and declined to answer questions. Sinani did not respond to the Mail's written questions. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'This despicable criminal should be urgently deported...' The Home Office said it was 'committed to removing foreign national offenders at the earliest opportunity'. The comments below have been moderated in advance. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.