EU officials want to stop the UK running criminal checks on 3 million Europeans hoping to stay in Britain after Brexit.

Britain wants to vet EU citizens before allowing them residency once Brexit is finalised in early 2019.

14 The EU's negotiating team on the left, and the UK's on the right with David Davis centre stage Credit: PA:Press Association

Alice Gross is believed to have been murdered by Arnis Zalkalns, who had previously murdered his wife in Latvia Credit: Getty Images

But Brussels chiefs claim "systematic" checks breach EU laws and have warned Britain it will move to stop such background searches against EU citizens as part of any agreement.

EU rules say previous criminal convictions cannot 'in themselves' be a barrier to free movement and citizens are not subject to background checks like non-EU nationals.

The rules are likely to change in Brexit Britain but the EU's demands would stop retrospective background checks.

This is despite a number of recent examples of migrants with a history of violent offences entering the UK and going on to commit sickening crimes.

Arnis Zalkalns

14 Twisted butcher Zalkalns attacked and killed Alice Gross after she left her home to go for a walk in 2014 Credit: PA:Press Association

Alice, 14, was snatched and buried in a shallow grave in West London Credit: Array

Zalkalns, 41, murdered his wife in Latvia and buried her in a shallow grave. He spent seven years behind bars before moving to the UK in 2007.

In August 2014, he is believed to have murdered 14-year-old schoolgirl Alice Gross after snatching her as she walked home along the Grand Union Canal in West London.

A huge police manhunt was launched and Zalkalns was found hanged from a tree just four days after Alice's body was discovered.

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It is thought he used techniques similar to when he buried his wife, after he had taken her into woodland and knifed her with a homemade blade.

Zalkalns had also been previously convicted for possession of firearms and sexual assault, including knowingly passing on a sexually transmitted disease.

Because he was an EU national he had undergone no background checks on his arrival and was unknown to the British authorities.



Viktor Lakatos

14 Lakatos beat an 89-year-old man with a knuckle duster having travelled to Britain with a GBH conviction Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

Lakatos, 42, had been jailed in his home country of Slovakia for grievous bodily harm.

After moving to the UK, in 2014 he beat an 89-year-old jeweller in Keighley, West Yorks, with a knuckle duster before going on the run.

The victim died before Lakatos was jailed for 14 years at Bradford Crown Court.



Jonathan Halil Warg Limani

14 Limani beheaded a man in Oxfordshire after fleeing to the UK while on bail for attempted murder Credit: Thames Valley Police

Swedish-Albanian schizophrenic Jonathan Halil Warg Limani had been arrested for attempted murder and aggravated assault in Sweden when he fled to the UK.

In 2010, he beheaded restaurant manager Chris Varian with a cheese knife at a wedding reception in Thame, Oxfordshire.

Limani admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and was jailed for life, with a minimum of 19 years behind bars in 2013.



Vitas Plytnykas

14 'Head on the beach' killer Vitas Plytnykas had a history of violent offending Credit: PA:Press Association

14 Jolanta Bledaite's dismembered body was found on a beach in Scotland Credit: East West News Agency

Lithuanian Vitas Plytnykas was convicted of manslaughter in Germany after killing another man in a fight.

He became known as the "head on the beach" killer after suffocating and dismembering Jolanta Bledaite and dumping her in the sea.

Her head and other body parts were found washed up on the shore by children playing on Arbroath beach.

Plytnykas was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009.

Victor Akulic

14 Rapist Victor Akulic settled in the UK despite a history of sex offences Credit: Police Handout

Akulic had several convictions in his home country of Lithuania, including one for raping a seven-year-old girl.

After moving to the UK he beat and raped a woman in Kent in 2010 while filming the sickening attack.

In 2012 when he appealed against the terms of his jail sentence, Appeal Court Judge Lady Justice Hallett said: “Do we have to take in anybody, even if they have a conviction for raping a child?”



Eduard Peticky

14 Peticky had a number of sex offence convictions before abusing children in Rotherham Credit: Ben Lack

Sex offender Peticky had several convictions in his native Slovakia, including the rapes of two women in the 1980s.

He moved to England in 2008 for a "better life" and settled in Rotherham, South Yorks.

He trafficked a young girl for sex before abusing her himself and also sexually abused another boy.

Peticky was jailed for life after being convicted of sex trafficking and sexually abusing young children in 2015.



Ireneusz Bartnowski

14 Burglar Bartnowski battered an elderly couple to death after breaking into their home Credit: Police Handout

14 Guiseppe and Caterina Massaro were attacked with a claw hammer Credit: PA:Press Association

Polish national Bartnowski was a convicted burglar in his homeland and moved to the UK in 2011.

Later that year he battered an elderly couple to death with a claw hammer in their home in Wolverhampton.

Bartnowski had been living next door to Guiseppe and Caterina Massaro when he broke into their home while they were out shopping.

He hid in their bedroom after they returned home unexpectedly before launching the ferocious attack.

The 22-year-old was jailed for life in 2012.

Mariusz Florowski

14 Polish gangster Mariusz Florowski covered a man in petrol and set him alight

14 Mr Novak died of his injuries three days after the attack Credit: Met Police

Polish gangster Florowski had multiple convictions for armed robbery and violent offences in his homeland when he moved to the UK.

In 2012, he tortured Benedykt Novak by roasting his face with a blow torch before covering him in petrol and setting him alight when he refused to hand over his business in West London.

Mr Novak died of his injuries two days later.

Florowski was jailed for 30 years in 2013.

Mindaugus Butkus

14 Buktus raped two women in Liverpool after being freed pending an appeal in Lithuania Credit: merseysidepolice

Butkus, 23, had been freed from jail in his native Lithuania pending an appeal against his sentence for a knifepoint robbery.

He came to the UK almost immediately in 2011 and went on to rape two women in Liverpool.

Butkus followed his first victim home after meeting her in a takeaway before beating and raping her when she refused to perform a sex act.

He stalked his second victim in the early hours of the morning before tricking his way into her block of flats.

He then forced her into the basement of the complex at knifepoint before raping her.

He was jailed for life in 2013.



Kajus Scuka

14 Scuka murdered his wife in his homeland before carrying out a string of attacks against women in Sheffield Credit: South Yorkshire Police

Czech citizen Scuka had been jailed in his homeland for murdering his wife in 1988.

He also had convictions for gross indecency, indecent assault and assaulting a woman with an axe.

After serving an 11-year sentence he moved to Sheffield in 2009 and carried out a string of attacks on women between March 2010 and May 2011.

He raped one woman as she walked her dog in a park and groped other women.

Jailing him for life at Sheffield Crown Court in 2012, Judge Peter Kelson said: "It seems to me the case that even with your convictions for murder and assaults you were free to enjoy the same freedom of movement as any other European citizen."