FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Agolli poses a low risk of reoffending, has not committed any criminal offenses since his release from prison, and has become a valuable member of society.
A jailed Albanian trafficker was allowed to remain in the UK after a judge ruled he had become a "valuable member of society" despite there being no "objective" evidence to justify his decision.
Kristjan Agolli, 36, was jailed for three years and three months in 2023 for his key role in an operation that illegally transported Albanians to the UK to work in “bar houses” located in disused flats or industrial buildings.
He was served with a deportation order by the Home Office, but he appealed on the basis that this would violate his right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
His appeal was upheld by a lower immigration court judge, who ruled that it would be "unreasonably harsh" on his wife, who was Romanian, had never lived in Albania and could not speak the language.
The lower-level judge based his decision solely on assurances from Agolli and his wife that he would not commit the crime again even though there was no evidence, either in probation reports or attendance at rehabilitation courses, to support their claims.
"Agolli poses a low risk of reoffending, has not committed any criminal offenses since his release from prison, and has become a valuable member of society," the judge said.
The Home Office appealed the decision. Meanwhile, a Court of Appeal judge said the lower court's decision was "clearly wrong and rationally untenable" and "contrary to the weight of the evidence".
The case has now been returned to the court of first instance for reconsideration. The decision issued by the Appeal states that “there is no evidence of rehabilitation work undertaken by the plaintiff, neither in his evidence nor in additional documents”.
“The reliance on the protective factors of his family and wife was also overly optimistic: the same factors were available to the plaintiff at the time of his offense, and one of those for whom he sought to facilitate clandestine entry was a family member.
"The reasons of the first-level judge are insufficient: they do not take into account the public interest in deporting foreign criminals nor the lack of any evidence of rehabilitation beyond the claim by the plaintiff and his wife," the Appeals Court decision states.
The case, revealed in court documents, is the latest example exposed by The Telegraph in which illegal migrants or convicted foreign criminals have used human rights laws in an attempt to stay in the UK or stop their deportations.
They include an Albanian criminal who avoided deportation after claiming his son had an allergy to chicken. /Adapted from Pamphlet/
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