An Egyptian one-man crimewave branded a “danger to the community” has avoided being deported – for fear he could face “ill-treatment” back home. The unnamed serial offender, who was granted anonymity for the immigration tribunal hearing, sneaked into Britain in the back of a lorry aged 14 and initially claimed asylum in 2016, having failed to do so elsewhere in Europe.
But despite his golden opportunity for a new life, the tribunal heard he repaid British taxpayers, footing the bill for his being in this country, by embarking on a life of crime. Now aged 24, the cannabis and cocaine user has amassed at least 19 convictions involving threatening behaviour, being in the Channel Tunnel, vandalism, assaulting an emergency worker, theft, drug possession, affray, possessing an offensive weapon and burglary.
The tribunal heard his first appeal against a refusal of asylum was dismissed by a first-tier immigration tribunal judge in 2017, and then in November 2023, he was jailed for 27 months for robbery.
The judge in that initial hearing was said to have been unimpressed by the fact that the then 16-year-old did not give oral evidence, had delayed in claiming asylum once in the UK and had failed to claim asylum in a safe third country.
In November 2023, he was sentenced to 27 months in prison for robbery. He was granted anonymity for the immigration hearings due to his “struggles” with mental health.
He has been diagnosed with significant mental illness, including severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and severe anxiety.
But now he has dodged deportation on human rights grounds after it was deemed he would be at risk of serious harm at the hands of the Egyptian authorities, who would suspect him of involvement in the Muslim Brotherhood.
Immigration judge Gaenor Bruce declared: “His appeal falls to be allowed on protection grounds because I accept that there is a real risk that if returned to Egypt he will face torture or other ill-treatment.”
The latest hearing at London’s Field House received expert evidence from Hugh Miles, who, since 2004, has covered Egyptian affairs for numerous outlets, including the BBC and the Guardian.
He agreed that Egyptian prisons are “full of all levels of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Judge Bruce accepted: “There is a possibility that his (the criminal’s) father was not in the Brotherhood.
The judge added: “It might be the case that none of this is true, and there is a possibility that this family conspired to spin a false narrative to the young and impressionable appellant in the hope that it would assist him in gaining asylum in Europe.
“On the other hand, I think it more likely than not that he has been told all of these things, over a period of years, because they were happening, in real time, to his family, and because they are in fact true.
“Applying the lower standard of proof I accept that his father is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, that he took part in extensive protests against the Government, that he was detained and imprisoned, that he managed to secure his release from prison by corrupt means, that he has since fled to the Sinai mountains alongside other members of the Brotherhood, and that his home and land have been confiscated by the state.”
The asylum-seeker claimed he would be arrested in Egypt “as a means to punish his father, or to draw him out of hiding.”
Judge Bruce was satisfied there was a real risk “he would be detained in order to ‘flush out’ his father, or as Mr Miles puts it, as a means of ‘collective punishment’ of the family.”
The same judge sparked a furore after ruling that a Taliban commander’s nephew, granted refugee status in Britain, can be joined by seven family members said to be living illegally in Turkey.
None of them speaks English, and a tribunal accepted they would place ‘a significant burden upon the public purse’ if they were allowed to move to the UK.
But the relatives – the man’s parents, three sisters, a niece and nephew – have ‘no options’ and are unable to return to Afghanistan, the judgment said.
In 2023, his relatives applied to enter the UK, citing the ‘right to private and family life’ under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, but were refused.
However, Upper Tribunal judge Gaenor Bruce decided the refusal of entry clearance to Britain was ‘unjustifiably harsh’ and allowed the appeals on human rights grounds.