A Jamaican drug dealer avoided deportation after he promised to only smoke cannabis and not sell it.
Shawn Rickford McLeod, 40, came to Britain in 2000 and was issued with a deportation order after being jailed for three years and four months for three counts of supplying class A drugs.
He appealed the decision on the grounds that it would breach his rights to a family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as he had three young children in the UK with his wife.
Hearing the appeal, Judge David Chaim Brannan ruled that deportation would be “unduly harsh” and accepted McLeod “genuinely wants to avoid reoffending (except for cannabis use) so he can care for his children”.
The Telegraph reported McLeod told both his prison officers as well as Judge Brannan that “he intended to continue to use cannabis” irrespective of whether he was allowed to remain in the country.
The Home Office challenged the decision in the upper tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, with a different judge, Karim-ullah Akbar Khan, finding there had been a “material error of law” applied - with the case set to be reheard this year.
“I find there is a material error of law as a result of the judge's inadequate and confused reasoning. The judge was well aware, that the appellant intended to continue to use cannabis,” the Judge Khan said.
Last week, it emerged that an Albanian criminal‘s deportation was halted partly because of his young son’s aversion to foreign chicken nuggets.
Klevis Disha, 39, entered the UK illegally as an unaccompanied minor. He later gave a fake name and falsely claimed to be born in the former Yugoslavia.
He was stripped of his UK citizenship in 2021 after serving two years in prison when he was caught with £300,000 known to be proceeds of crime.
But an immigration tribunal ruled it would be “unduly harsh” for his 10-year-old son, known as ‘C’ in court documents, to return to Albania with his father owing to food sensitivities.
The only example listed in court documents was the young boy’s aversion to eating “the type of chicken nuggets that are available abroad”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper appealed the judgment in August last year, arguing there was not enough evidence to show Disha’s deportation would be “unduly harsh” on his son.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have been clear that we do not agree with this judgment and vigorously contested this case last year.
“We remain resolute in our commitment to ensuring there are no barriers to deport foreign criminals, as it is in the public interest for these people to be removed swiftly.”
