An Indian man facing deportation from the UK after being jailed for distributing child sex abuse images delayed his removal by arguing it would infringe on his right to “private and family life” under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Daily Mail reports that the man, referred to as “HS” due to a lifetime anonymity order, was sentenced to 14 months in prison in 2021 for distributing child sex abuse images. Additionally, he is under a sexual harm prevention order and is required to register as a sex offender for ten years.
Following his release, the Home Office attempted to deport him in 2022, citing his criminal record. However, HS challenged the deportation on human rights grounds, arguing it would harm his children.
An immigration tribunal initially ruled in HS’s favour, with Judge Jetsun Lebasci deciding that deportation would be “unduly harsh” for his children. This decision was based heavily on an independent social worker’s report, which stated that separation would negatively impact HS’s children. However, the Home Office contested the ruling, leading to an appeal in the upper immigration and asylum tribunal.
Upper tribunal judges Melissa Canavan and Matthew Hoffman expressed significant concerns about the original decision, criticising the social worker’s report for failing to thoroughly consider HS’s offences.
The judges noted that HS had been restricted to only supervised contact with his children due to his criminal background. They highlighted “startling omissions” in the report, including inadequate consideration of the safeguarding risks posed by HS’s convictions.
The judges referred the case back to the lower court to be heard again, meaning HS, who first arrived in the UK in 2002 and has lived in the country illegally for periods, now faces another hearing.
Conservative Party leadership candidate and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick condemned the ruling, calling it “madness” and emphasising that the situation underscores the need for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, whose decisions in the past have prevented deportations from Britain.
