Migrant convicted 12 times for his crimes since arriving in Britain allowed to STAY in UK
A 46-year-old man from Colombia, who moved to the UK as a teenager, has managed to avoid being deported—even though he has committed 27 crimes over the years. Most of his offences were linked to his problems with drugs and alcohol.
He first came to the UK when he was just 16 years old in the 1990s. Although his asylum request was rejected at the time, he was later granted indefinite leave to remain in 2007, which means he was allowed to stay in the country permanently.
Since then, he has been in trouble with the law many times. He has been convicted 12 times for different offences. One of those convictions happened in 2016 when he broke a restraining order against his ex-partner, with whom he shares a child. For that, he was sentenced to eight weeks in prison. The court added another 11 weeks to his sentence because of three previous driving offences.
In 2020, he was arrested and held because the authorities were planning to deport him. However, in October 2024, a judge named Kuldip Phull ruled that he could stay in the UK. The judge based her decision on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects a person’s right to family life. She explained that he had lived in the UK legally for more than half of his life and had become a part of British society and culture. She also said that if he were sent back to Colombia, it would be very difficult for him to adjust to life there again. On top of that, the judge believed that deporting him would cause serious harm to his son, who has possible undiagnosed autism.
But the UK Home Office didn’t agree with this decision. They argued that the judge didn’t give strong enough reasons for allowing the man to stay. They pointed out that he still has family in Colombia who could support him if he were sent back. They also said there was no solid proof that his son would be badly affected by the deportation. The Home Office felt that not enough attention was given to how many crimes the man had committed over the years.
Because of these issues, the Home Office asked for the case to be looked at again. Another judge, Sandip Kudhail, reviewed the decision and said there had been a legal mistake in the earlier ruling. As a result, the case will be reheard.
This case is one of many immigration appeals currently going through the UK legal system. Many of these cases involve human rights claims. Some recent examples include a Ghanaian man who was allowed to stay in the UK because of fears about witchcraft if he returned home, and another case where a convicted paedophile wasn’t deported because he had a child living in the UK. There are nearly 42,000 similar appeals waiting to be resolved.
