A drug dealer in Britain has avoided getting deported after promising that he will “only smoke” cannabis and not sell it. The man, identified as Shawn Rickford McLeod of Jamaican origin, arrived in the UK but was handed a deportation order after being sentenced to three years and four months in prison for supplying class A drugs, according to a report in The Telegraph.
McLeod appealed that deporting him would breach his rights to a family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) since he had a wife and three kids in the UK. McLeod also made it clear he “intended to use cannabis” despite the deportation outcome, sharing his position on the matter with his prison and probation officers as well as Judge Brannan.
Convinced by McLeod’s reasoning, Judge David Chaim Brannan ruled in his favour, stating that deporting would be “unduly harsh” on his family as “he genuinely wants to avoid reoffending (except for cannabis use) so he can care for his children”.
Despite having spent the majority of his time in prison, away from his children, aged one, four, and seven, McLeod was told he could remain in Britain to raise them.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp dubbed the decision “mind-boggling”, adding that such a criminal should not be allowed to stay in Britain.
“These foreign criminals should all be kicked out. The ever-expanding interpretation of ECHR articles by weak immigration judges has to end,” said Mr Philp.
“Immigration judges seem more interested in letting foreign drug dealers and paedophiles stay in the UK than in upholding the law and protecting the British public from likely re-offending. This farce has to end, and it’s clear fundamental changes to human rights laws are needed.”
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Previous instances
This is not the first instance when convicted foreign criminals in the UK have managed to receive a favourable judgement by using human rights laws. An Albanian criminal managed to avoid deportation, earlier this month after claiming his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets.
Similarly, a Pakistani paedophile escaped deportation after a court ruled that the move would be “unduly harsh” on his own children.
