Sex offender allowed to stay in UK – as more than half of appeals against asylum decisions successful
Home Office asylum decisions are being overturned by more than half of applicants, as Sky News reveals a convicted sex offender was awarded refugee status after a judge ruled he would be at risk of “mob violence” in Afghanistan.
The man, who was convicted of “outraging public decency and exposure” in 2017, was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register but was given permission to remain in the country.
The evidence of several doctors at his asylum appeal hearings stated that he “continues to act inappropriately towards females”.
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In June 2020, an immigration tribunal judge agreed with lawyers that his “risky behaviours” would expose him to “ill-treatment” in Afghanistan and awarded him refugee status.
Immigration tribunal courts, where judges can overturn the Home Office, have ruled in favour of asylum seekers 51% of the time since 2021.
Sky News reveals that in June 2020 a convicted sex offender was awarded refugee status
And the majority of those who are unsuccessful do not return home, staying in Britain illegally.
On average, more than £34m of legal aid per year has been spent on asylum cases since 2017, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice.
Home Office minister Laura Farris told Sky News the government wanted to “end this merry-go-round” of illegal arrivals to the UK, and said it was “absolutely right that the public expects that foreign national offenders will be deported when their sentence is concluded”.
Meanwhile, Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, blasted the “chaos in the asylum system” and “complete lack of enforcement” when someone has committed a serious offence.
She told Sky News it was right the UK gives “sanctuary to those who have fled persecution and conflict”, but added that “standards need to be maintained” so those without the right to stay are removed.
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Asylum seeker Sakhile: Five asylum claims rejected
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‘They just send letters’
Sakhile, 47, claimed asylum in Britain 18 years ago after arriving from Zimbabwe, where she says her political views put her at risk of persecution. Over the years, she has filed four further claims which have all been unsuccessful.
At no point has she ever been threatened with removal. “They just send letters and ask you if you want to go voluntarily,” she says.
Analysis of Home Office data by the Migration Observatory shows almost two-thirds, or 55,273 people, who were refused asylum were not recorded as having left the UK in the decade from 2011.
That figure – which represents 61% of all failed asylum seekers – could be even higher as it does not include partners or children.
Abdul Ezedi, an Afghan man who carried out a chemical attack on a woman and two children in Clapham, was twice rejected by the Home Office but remained in the country.
Despite being on the Sex Offenders’ Register, he was granted asylum on appeal after claiming he had converted to Christianity and would be at risk of persecution in Afghanistan.
Religious conversion is just one reason an appeal can succeed.
Sky News has examined court papers that identify “Westernisation” as an argument made by people whose length of stay in the UK while awaiting a decision means they would face persecution in their home countries.
“Westernisation” is another reason aslyum appeals can be successful
One Iraqi Kurdish family said their daughter was used to living “as a Western woman”.
The judge said: “If this family were transplanted from Liverpool to Baghdad, and carried on living in the way they live here, they would quickly encounter problems.”
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‘The system is broken’
In an interview with Sky News earlier this month, science minister Andrew Griffith MP said: “We can’t run an asylum system based on credulous clerics and lefty lawyers.”
But allegations of activism within the courts are dismissed by those who regularly appear against the government.
“The asylum system is broken,” says Ahmed Aydeed, director of public law at Duncan Lewis, who regularly represents asylum seekers. “Lawyers only work within the system created… I think the public would be greatly angered by the way this whole system works.”
Ahmed Aydeed, director of public law at Duncan Lewis
A Home Office spokesperson told Sky News: “We stand firm on our longstanding policy that those without a right to stay in the UK will be removed.
“Our Illegal Migration Act makes this possible, as people who enter the UK illegally will have their asylum claims and human rights claims declared inadmissible, and they will not be able to make a life here.
“Each asylum application is individually assessed, including decisions on removal of individuals.
“Where people have previously been refused asylum in the UK, a fresh asylum claim can be made through legal representation.”
You can watch Becky Johnson’s full report, Faultlines: Asylum Crisis, on Sky News today at 10:30, 12:30, 14;30, 18:30 and 20:00.
Politics
Kemi Badenoch accuses Sir Keir Starmer of ‘lying’ about Peter Mandelson prior to sacking him
Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “lying to the whole country” about what he knew regarding Peter Mandelson’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein.
Lord Mandelson was this week stripped of his position as ambassador to the US amid fresh scrutiny over his years-long friendship with the convicted paedophile.
The prime minister initially defended the Labour peer but removed him from his post on Thursday after newly seen emails revealed he sent messages of support to Epstein even as he faced jail for sex offences in 2008.
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Lord Mandelson – the unanswered questions
The Times has now reported that Downing Street and the Foreign Office were aware of the emails on Tuesday – a day before Sir Keir gave Lord Mandelson his backing at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).
In a post on X, Conservative leader Ms Badenoch wrote: “Looks like the Prime Minister and Labour MPs spent the week lying to the whole country about what they knew regarding Mandelson’s involvement with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.”
She continued: “If No 10 had those emails for 48 hours before acting, it means he lied at PMQs and ministers lied again about new additional information. These are yet more errors of judgment.
“The Prime Minister has very serious questions to answer. The only way to clear this up is full transparency about who knew what, and when.”
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Sources said Sir Keir was not aware of the contents of the emails when he told MPs he had “confidence” in Lord Mandelson.
A media enquiry outlining details of the messages between Lord Mandelson and Epstein was sent to the Foreign Office on Tuesday, and passed on to Number 10.
Sir Oliver Robbins, the permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, asked Lord Mandelson about the emails on Tuesday, but did not receive a response until the following day.
Sir Keir is understood not to have been aware of the contents of the emails until Wednesday evening.
Speaking to Sky News, one Labour MP has called for more information on what happened behind closed doors at No 10 this week.
Jo White, MP for Bassetlaw, in Nottinghamshire, said: “We cannot move on until we find out how he [Sir Keir] was not briefed properly before PMQs.”
“What he needs to do now is get on top and sort out this mess,” she said. “Suspend the whip from Peter Mandelson and expel him from the party, then have a transparent enquiry about what went wrong at No.10.”
This came as Sir Keir enjoyed some time away from Downing Street.
The prime minister was on Saturday pictured watching Arsenal face Nottingham Forest in a Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal fan Sir Keir cheered on his side as they won 3-0. Pic: Reuters
Lord Mandelson’s exit came after less than a fortnight after another high-profile loss for the Labour government, as Angela Rayner was forced to quit as deputy prime minister and deputy Labour leader over her tax affairs.
As Sir Keir has faced a scandal-hit start to the month, a growing number of Labour MPs have begun calling his leadership into question.
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Lucy Powell, who is running to replace Ms Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader, has called for a “change of culture” at Downing Street.
“We’ve got a bit of a groupthink happening at the top, that culture of not being receptive to interrogation, not being receptive to differing views,” she told The Guardian newspaper.
Meanwhile, senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry has written to the new foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, demanding answers about the vetting process for UK diplomats in the wake of Lord Mandelson’s sacking.
A man has admitted arson after a major fire at an MP’s constituency office.
Joshua Oliver, 28, pleaded guilty to starting the fire which destroyed the office of Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, at Vermont House in Washington, Tyne and Wear.
The fire also wrecked a small charity for people with very rare genetic diseases and an NHS mental health service for veterans.
The guilty plea was entered at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on the basis that it was reckless rather than intentional.
Hodgson, who has been an MP since 2005, winning her seat again in 2019. Pic: Reuters
The Crown did not accept that basis of plea.
Oliver, of no fixed address, had been living in a tent nearby, the court heard.
Northumbria Police previously said it was “alerted to a fire at a premises on Woodland Terrace in the Washington area” shortly after 12.20am on Thursday.
“Emergency services attended and no one is reported to have been injured in the incident,” it added.
Drone footage from the scene showed extensive damage to the building.
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A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
“We have worked closely with Northumbria Police as they carried out their investigation.”
Oliver was remanded in custody and will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday, 14 October.
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