A convicted drug dealer’s deportation case has to be reheard after the Home Office wrongly accepted he had been a lawful UK resident most of his life. Nigerian national, Olajiire Obafemi Shoyombo, was jailed for 40 months in 2023 after he was convicted at Nottingham Crown Court of two offences involving the supply of heroin and crack cocaine.
He had argued he should be allowed to stay in the UK under the “private life exception”, which can apply to foreign nationals who have spent most of their life in Britain lawfully and would face “very significant obstacles” if returned to their home country. His initial appeal on human rights grounds was allowed by a lower-tier tribunal, but it has since been referred back to them by the upper tribunal, which found the decision had been based on a “mistake as to fact”.
According to tribunal documents, Shoyombo was unlawfully in the UK for more than eight years after arriving on a visitor visa in 2005, when he was three years old.
He was later granted leave to remain during various periods between 2014 and 2022, totalling around nine years of lawful residence. The case will now return to the lower tribunal for a fresh hearing.
The Home Office does not dispute Shoyombo is socially and culturally integrated in the UK or that he would face serious difficulties if removed to Nigeria.
But the tribunal must now decide whether there are “very compelling circumstances” which outweigh the public interest in deportation.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are doing everything in our power to contest this case, and having successfully appealed against it, it will now be reheard.
“We are taking immediate action to ensure immigration rules are respected and enforced.”
It comes weeks after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper pledged to clarify deportation rules and said she will give judges clearer guidance on how to interpret human rights claims and assess what is in the public interest.
Ms Cooper made the pledge as the Home Office announced reforms to deportation and removal rules aimed at making it easier to remove foreign criminals committing crimes in the UK.
Under the new arrangements, the Home Office will be told of all foreign nationals convicted of offences – not just those who receive prison sentences.
The Government will also be able to use wider removal powers related to other crimes, including swifter action to remove people who have recently arrived in the country but have already committed crimes.
According to the Home Office, the overhaul will make it easier to remove those who commit offences – including violence against women and girls, street and knife crimes – before the threat they pose escalates.
When the reforms were unveiled, Ms Cooper said: “It is a basic requirement – those who come to the UK should abide by our laws. The system for returning foreign criminals has been far too weak for too long.
“Already we have increased the number of foreign national offenders being removed since the election. But we need much higher standards. The rules need to be respected and enforced.”
Since July 2024, the Home Office has removed 3,594 foreign criminals from the UK – a 16% increase on the same period 12 months prior.
