Anger as child rapist wins ten-year asylum battle to avoid deportation to Eritrea and stay in the UK - in one of more than 360 immigration rulings made in February and March

A foreign sex offender who raped a teenage girl has avoided deportation after winning a ten-year asylum battle to remain in the UK, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Judges ruled that deporting the rapist to Eritrea, East Africa, would breach his human rights because he had previously dodged military conscription and was at risk of being punished if he returned.

The hugely controversial decision is among more than 360 immigration rulings made in February and March by the Upper Tier Tribunal, which examines asylum and deportation appeals.

In an exclusive audit by this newspaper of the tribunal's recent decisions, we can also reveal how:

• A Jamaican drug dealer who has been deported from the UK three times – only to then repeatedly sneak back into the country – has won his bid to stay.
• An alleged crime boss accused by the Indian government of money laundering won his appeal against a Home Office decision to deny him asylum.
• A Jamaican woman twice convicted of possession of drugs with intent to supply is still fighting deportation 22 years after she entered the UK.
• An Italian drug dealer won an appeal against deportation – despite being described as having 'operational control' of a telephone line used to supply Class A drugs. 

Our audit of cases comes after Home Secretary James Cleverly called for a light to be shone on tribunal decisions, many of which are shrouded in secrecy because judges often impose draconian reporting restrictions.

Indeed, we can reveal that 47 of the 110 decisions made by the Upper Tribunal during the first two weeks of March involved cases where asylum seekers or foreign criminals were granted anonymity via court orders.

Among them was the sex attacker who the Home Office had been trying to deport from Britain since 2014 after he was jailed for raping the teenage girl.

The tribunal ruled he cannot be identified and is instead known only as 'LF'.

Court papers reveal that prison and probation officials said he still poses a 'medium risk of harm to the public'. 

But a judge confirmed an earlier ruling which upheld his appeal against the Home Office's refusal to let him stay in the UK.

Meanwhile, another migrant granted anonymity is an Indian national who sought asylum in 2019 but, along with his mother and brother, is alleged to control an organised crime group involved in drug and human trafficking, and the financing of terrorism. 

The man denies the allegations.

Tory MP Nigel Mills said: 'These decisions sound like they are completely out of touch with the public mood. 

'The idea that somebody who has sexually assaulted a young person should ever be allowed to stay is utterly ludicrous.'

In another case, Jamaican Andrew Wayne Hunt won his appeal despite being convicted of money laundering in 2004 and possession with intent to supply cocaine and amphetamines in 2015.

He was deported to Jamaica in 2006, 2008 and 2010 – but on each occasion he returned illegally.

In July 2023, First-tier Tribunal Judge Nadine Clarkson ruled his fourth deportation would have 'unduly harsh consequences' for two of his six children, which blocked his removal from the UK.

Astonishingly, two judges said it is likely they would have reached a different conclusion.

The Home Office said it was 'doubling down on removing foreign offenders', adding: 'Anyone convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity.'