Convicted rapist fighting deportation allowed to stay in Britain BECAUSE of his crime after judge ruled he could face prosecution if sent home to Iran, report says
- An Iranian who raped a London flatmate in 2000 won a deportation appeal
- The man was an outspoken critic of Iran’s regime and ‘would face persecution’
- He also claims that his rape conviction means he could receive the death penalty.
An Iranian rapist has won the right to stay in the UK after a judge ruled he would face persecution in his home country, according to a report.
Despite apparently lying about being a former MI5 employee, his appeal against deportation was successful.
The immigration court was told the man first entered Britain in 1992 as a student, The Sun reports.
The newspaper adds that the man, known as XX, raped a tenant who lived in the same London house in 2000.
He was convicted a year later and imprisoned for seven years.
The case was heard in the High Court’s Immigration and Asylum Chamber at Field House in central London.
Immigration documents indicate that he has never given ‘any indication’ of showing awareness of the impact on his victim and that he has not participated in any rehabilitation courses.
After the conclusion of his jail term, authorities wanted to deport the man in 2005, but he filed a successful interim appeal.
Despite no documentary evidence, the man has held on to the claim that he was previously recruited by the UK’s secret services.
The man insisted that MI5 was after him because he used to mix in social circles with ties to the Iranian embassy in London.
The security services have refused to clarify the complaint in one way or another.
He also shared his fears of receiving the death penalty for his rape conviction if he returns to Iran.
The judge seemed to give some weight to a third reason given, which was his criticism of the Iranian regime.
In his ruling, Judge John Keith said the man could remain in the UK because of the risk of persecution he faces.
He also accepted that there was indeed evidence that the man had criticized the Iranian regime on a website, and that knowledge of this by the authorities meant a “real risk of interrogation and prolonged detention.”