A Romanian jailed for seven years for a violent robbery has avoided deportation after claiming that it would breach his rights to a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Ionut-Mihai Sofroniei, 30, claimed that the Home Office’s attempt to remove him because of his criminality was a breach of his Article 8 family rights under the ECHR.
The former construction worker claimed he merited protection against deportation on the basis that he had lived in the UK for a decade, had married a Lithuanian in Britain and had a baby daughter by her.
In a move that strengthened his claim, Sofroniei also submitted an application for EU “settled status” in the UK the evening before his claim against deportation was heard by an immigration judge.
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The application was outside the “grace” period but Sofroniei claimed he had been unable to lodge it earlier because he had been in custody.
Sofroniei had been freed from jail shortly before the hearing after serving seven years for robbing a prostitute and her co-worker of their takings.
The tribunal was told Sofroniei and his two associates subjected the pair to violence during a 20-minute ordeal as they ransacked the property in search of money and other goods.
‘Immigration tribunals not fit for purpose’
His appeal against deportation was granted by a lower immigration tribunal although that has now been referred back to it to be reconsidered because of “an error of law”.
The case will intensify demands for the UK to quit the ECHR.
Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, said: “Yet another jaw-dropping example of a foreign criminal abusing our farcical membership of the ECHR and taking advantage of immigration tribunals that are not fit for purpose and clearly full of wokies.
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“More robust 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 plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey and had married her to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey even though the immigration tribunal was told he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
‘Exceptional case’
Sofroniei came to live in the UK in 2015 as a steel fixer and received his first conviction just two years later. In February 2020, he was found guilty of the robbery for which he was jailed for seven years.
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He was served with notice that he would face deportation which he challenged as a breach of his Article 8 rights under the ECHR. It was not until July 2023 that he was told that he would be deported. The hearing was scheduled for Dec 12.
At 6pm on Dec 11, Sofroniei applied to join the EU settlement scheme, even though the deadline for doing so had passed on June 30 2021. Nonetheless, the judge decided that he was covered by the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
“Largely for that reason, the judge found that this was an exceptional case which should be allowed under Article 8 ECHR,” the court documents said.
An upper court judge ruled that the case should be reconsidered although he also accepted that applying outside the “grace” period did not shut the door to Sofroniei securing UK residence.
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