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An Albanian drug lord who was sentenced to three years in prison after being caught on a cannabis farm was not convicted by the UK after judges concluded his daughter would be left 'without a male role model'.
In 2013, Xhoni Leka first set foot on British soil and was refused residency on several occasions before being charged with possession of class B drugs with intent to distribute.
After being caught alongside his associate Gjergji Braculla managing a cannabis farm with around 1,300 plants in Cumbria, he was jailed for three years and four months.
The cannabis farmer was subsequently sentenced to a deportation order to Albania by the Ministry of Interior, but has since appealed the decision on the grounds that it would violate his human rights.
He claimed that returning to his homeland would violate his right to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to a family life.
An immigration court recently overturned the Home Office's initial deportation order for Leka, saying the decision would be 'unreasonably harsh' on his four-year-old daughter.
Judges Fiona Lindsley and Mark Symes said Leka plays a key role in ensuring the child has 'financial and emotional security' as well as 'a stable home and a loving environment'.
They also added that deporting Leka would cause 'serious harm' to the child as it would mean she could live in Albania with her father, depriving her of the right to live in her country of birth, the United Kingdom.
The judges also determined that his wife, who is a Czech citizen, would find it difficult to live in Leka's homeland, as she does not speak Albanian and has no family to help her naturalize.
The Home Office opposed the decision, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to support that the Albanian's daughter would be seriously harmed by Leka's deportation.
According to The Times, they said there was no evidence provided by a psychologist, social services or an independent social worker.
They also argued that there are few single-parent families in the UK and that the child was at an 'adaptable age', adding that 'British citizenship was not an asset'.
The Home Office also said it had evidence to support that Leka's wife was helped by friends while the Albanian was behind bars, while also claiming that she would receive benefits from her local authority if she became a single parent.
However, the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Supreme Court determined that Leka's deportation would violate his Article 8 ECHR rights, which outweighed the public interest in returning the Albanian to his country of birth in the Balkans.
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