Villain who gets away, as a rule? (6)

I believe the answer is:

outlaw

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'villain' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'away as a rule?' is the wordplay.
'away' becomes 'out' (similar in meaning).
'as a rule?' becomes 'law' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'out'+'law'='OUTLAW'

'who gets' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for outlaw that I've seen before include "bar" , "Criminal, bandit" , "eg Robin Hood" , "Embargo" , "Declare illegal" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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