A Romanian jailed for seven years for a violent robbery has avoided deportation after claiming it would breach his right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Ionut-Mihai Sofroniei, 30, claimed that the Interior Ministry’s attempt to remove him because of his criminality was a violation of his family rights under Article 8 under the ECHR.
The former construction worker claimed he deserved protection from deportation on the grounds that he had lived in Britain for ten years, married a Lithuanian in Britain and had a daughter with her.
In a move that strengthened his claim, Sofroniei also applied for EU “settled status” in Britain the night before his deportation claim was heard by an immigration judge.
The application fell outside the grace period, but Sofroniei claimed he could not have filed it earlier because he had been in custody.
Sofroniei had been released from prison shortly before the hearing after serving seven years for robbing a prostitute and her colleague of their earnings.
The tribunal was told that Sofroniei and his two associates subjected the couple to violence during a 20-minute ordeal as they looted the property for money and other goods.
Appeal under investigation for ‘error of law’
His deportation appeal was upheld by a lower immigration tribunal, although it has now been referred back to the tribunal for reconsideration due to “an error of law”.
The case will intensify demands for Britain to leave the ECHR.
Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, said: “Yet another breathtaking example of a foreign criminal taking advantage of our farcical membership of the ECtHR and abusing immigration tribunals that are not fit for purpose and are clearly full of wokies.
“Stronger evidence that we must leave the ECHR and fundamentally reform our broken immigration system.”
It follows the Telegraph’s revelation of how a Turkish crime boss, said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers, won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plans to supply heroin across Britain, was allowed to stay on the grounds that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extramarital affair with a woman in Great Britain. Turkey and had married her to “preserve her honor.”
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would face persecution if deported to Turkey, even though the immigration tribunal was told he had returned to his home country eight times since coming to Turkey . Britain without any form of persecution.
Sofroniei came to live in Britain as a steel fixer in 2015 and received his first conviction just two years later. In February 2020, he was found guilty of the robbery for which he was sentenced to seven years in prison.
He was informed that he would face deportation, which he disputed as a violation of his Article 8 rights under the ECHR. It was not until July 2023 that he was told he would be deported. The hearing was scheduled for December 12.
On December 11 at 6:00 PM, Sofroniei submitted an application to participate in the EU settlement scheme, even though the deadline for doing so had passed on June 30, 2021. Nevertheless, the judge decided that he was covered by the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
“Largely for that reason, the judge ruled that this was an exceptional case that should be allowed under Article 8 of the ECHR,” the court documents said.
A High Court judge ruled that the case should be reconsidered, although he also accepted that an application outside the ‘grace’ period did not lock the door for Sofroniei to secure residency in Britain.
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