A KILLER dubbed the Costa Cannibal after bragging that he ate his girlfriend is back on the streets of Britain - to the horror of his victim's distraught family.
Paul Durant, now 60, is free after being jailed in Spain for 12 years and has settled in a block of flats in East London among neighbours who are unaware he bludgeoned lover Karen Durrell to death.
But a source close to Karen’s family said: “It’s the stuff of nightmares. Her folks were told earlier this summer he was about to get out but it doesn’t make it any easier.
“Karen’s body has never been found. Her death was so traumatic and it left so many unanswered questions. To have to live with that and then see this man out on the streets again — how do you deal with that?
“He made all those claims, admitted killing her and now he’s free again. It’s just not right.”
CANNIBAL'S CONFESSION
Former heroin addict Durant killed mum-of-two Karen in Spain while he was on the run over two cash-box robberies.
He met the 41-year-old divorcee from Ilford, Essex, in January 2004 in a village near Benidorm, where she had moved in the hope of a better life.
Weeks later, police broke into her flat where they found blood, a knife and a saw with traces of flesh — but no body.
Durant told police he hit her with a mallet. He said: “After I killed her, I cut her body into small parts, eating what parts of her I found edible.”
He was dubbed the Costa Cannibal but withdrew the claim and was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter.
He returned to finish his sentence in Britain in 2010 before being jailed for another eight years and eight months for the robberies.
NEIGHBOURS 'NERVOUS'
Freed last month, he moved into a flat in Tower Hamlets, East London.
One neighbour said: “He moved in recently and at first no one knew much about him.
“Then someone put two and two together and everyone’s a bit twitchy, to be honest.
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“He likes a drink but people down the pub are saying they don’t want to cross him.”
Karen’s dad Dave declined to comment on Durant’s release.
He said: “It’s a horrific thing that happened.”
Spanish police arrest 'cannibal' man who 'cut dead mum into 1,000 tiny pieces and shared her with his dog'ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKynZpOke7a3jqecsKtfboR1hJZrbGibn6jBonnCmqWnoZKWuW68wK6jZpylp66vedGeo56Zo5qxbrzRoqqopl8%3D