Farage renewed his attack on ECHR which he regards as a barrier to Britain’s security. (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage has called for Britain to “free” itself from the European Convention on Human Rights, after the deportation of a man convicted of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter was blocked by a tribunal.
The man, who is in his 50s and originally from central Africa, was jailed for three years in 2020 for offences including sexual penetration and sexual assault against her and two other young girls in the family.
Foreign nationals convicted of serious criminal offences are automatically subject to deportation and The Home Secretary ordered the man, referred to as MD, to be sent back to his homeland in August 2022, reports.
, with an immigration judge ruling that the move would “negatively impact” his wife and three biological children, who weren’t victims of the sexual offences.
A judge stated that though he didn’t have legitimate refugee status, deportation would breach his rights to a family life. The right to “respect for your family and private life, your home and your correspondence”, is enshrined in ECHR and given effect by Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.
:
The ECHR has stopped Britain from deporting a paedophile convicted of sexual assault.This is why we must leave it.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage)
The tribunal made the decision despite accepting that the man “continues to pose a risk to the community, in particular children”.
The decision left MD free to rejoin the family.
In a post on X, Farage lamented the outcome, claiming: “He’s staying in this country and going to back to the same household in which the very same young stepdaughter that he sexually abused, is living there.
“If this doesn’t show you why we have to get free of this nonsense of a European court… Guys, if you’re not convinced by this, nothing will ever convince you,” the Reform UK leader said.
The Home Office has won the right to a new hearing in which it will look to deport MD, who lives in the Glasgow area.
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European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. (Image: Getty)
The man, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of the children, arrived in the UK in 2008.
He claimed asylum at the time but was initially rejected and went to court to argue he should be allowed to stay using publicly funded legal aid, as per the outlet.
MD married a British woman with whom he had three children and became stepfather to his wife’s daughter from a previous relationship.
In July 2014 he was granted leave to remain after a judge accepted he had a settled family life in Britain.
MD denies the crimes he was convicted of and wife believes he is innocent, reports.
Their youngest child has a diagnosis of autism, which the judge who presided over his appeal against deportation tipped “the balance” in his favour.
The Home Secretary was granted an appeal against the ruling partly because the stepdaughter’s interests hadn’t been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal, as per The Telegraph.
The potential risk MD might pose to his biological children was also found to have not been taken into account.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Foreign nationals who commit heinous crimes should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free on Britain’s streets, this includes removal from the UK.
“We are committed to ramping up returns activity, including Foreign National Offenders. We have returned nearly 10,000 people since the government came into power in the summer.”
A new hearing is expected to be held later this month.