The human rights lawyers celebrating after Priti Patel raged at them over Jamaican deportation plane
‘What a result!’: The human rights ‘leftie lawyers’ celebrating after Priti Patel raged at them for grounding Jamaica-bound deportation flight – meaning two rapists and a murderer among 23 criminals still in UK
- One planned flight descended into chaos after 23 serious criminals appealed.
- Michael Antonio White, convicted of murder, was taken off yesterday’s plane
- He was sentenced to life in prison after shooting his victim 6 times in a drug deal
- In all, 23 criminals submitted appeals which led to them avoiding deportation
- MPs, celebrities and lawyers believe some may be Windrush descendants
- They also claim others have been trafficked into the UK and forced into crime
Lawyers who helped stop 23 criminals including rapists and killers being deported to Jamaica toasted their success after halting their removal, declaring ‘What a result’.
The barristers were from a number of firms acting in tandem with campaign groups Movement for Justice and Detention Action.
Solicitors from companies including Cranbrook Legal and Clarendon Park Chambers said they worked into the early hours to stall the transfer before celebrating the news of their success.
It plunged a Home Office flight to return 50 Jamaican nationals into chaos yesterday as 23 serious crooks submitted last-minute appeals – including human rights claims – which led to them avoiding deportation.
Model Naomi Campbell, Line of Duty star Thandie Newton, James Bond actress Naomie Harris and historian David Olusoga were among celebrities who signed an open letter demanding none of the offenders be removed, at least for the time being.
They believe some may have been Windrush descendants or had been trafficked to the UK and forced into crimes.
Michael Antonio White, convicted of murder in 2003 after shooting a man six times, was taken off the plane after a last-minute appeal.
Others who dodged deportation yesterday included the two rapists, two convicted of attempted murder and others convicted of supplying Class A drugs and possessing firearms.
Amer Zaman, 35, is the founding Director of Cranbrook Legal, and did not represent either White or either of the two rapists on board.
But his client is understood to have been a father-of-five on the flight who had been in prison six years ago for an unknown offence.
Amer Zaman and Dunya Kamal both publicly told how they tried to help clients off the plane
Miranda Butler and Sheraaz Hingora also confirmed on social media they helped the action
On Wednesday night he live tweeted his work to get him off the plane, telling supporters: ‘Coming up to 10:30 at night and still fighting to stop my clients removal to Jamaica on this chartered flight! We still have hope!
‘What a result, fresh reps submitted for our Jamaican client. Reps submitted at 23:30 and then an out of Hours injunction granted at 00:45. Close call but he was taken off the flight!
‘It was a pleasure to assist. A massive thank you to you guys too for all your efforts. A real collective effort to get this result!’
Sheraaz Hingora, of London firm Clarendon Park Chambers, stopped one man being deported back to Jamaica, but was not clear the reasons for his seat on the flight.
The Birmingham University graduate declared: ‘Very happy to confirm that an injunction has been granted against the removal of a Jamaican national facing deportation by charter flight.
‘He is overjoyed as is his family. I drafted the grounds on a Pro Bono basis. Happy to assist others.
‘2:30am. Judicial review grounds and interim relief grounds drafted and sent to solicitor. Shattered but hopefully worth it for the father and children.’
Miranda Butler, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers but instructed by Duncan Lewis Public Law, was also involved in the efforts to get people off the plane.
She said: ‘My client came to the UK aged 11 and is a victim of trafficking.
‘His human rights claim has never been fully considered. He was one of the few lucky enough to get a lawyer.’
And Dunya Kamal, a human rights lawyer for Duncan Lewis Public Law, said she had been unsuccessful in getting an injunction for her client.
Ms Kamal has previously worked as a global communications head at Amnesty International.
She said: ‘There’s a victim of trafficking sat on a coach awaiting deportation, while the Home Office has failed to respond substantively to any letter we have sent, which included evidence from an independent trafficking expert. Struggling to find the words.
Criminals they’re backing
Fitzroy Daley
Fitzroy Daley
Knifeman Fitzroy Daley was deported yesterday – ten months after he managed to avoid being removed on an earlier flight.
Daley was jailed for ten years after stabbing a man to death in a row outside a pub. The Old Bailey was shown CCTV footage of Daley attacking Eric Paul, 50, from behind as he walked away after a ‘minor scuffle’ in East London just before Christmas in 2012.
The court heard Mr Paul was stabbed several times with a 6in kitchen knife. A jury acquitted Daley, then 36, of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter.
Paul Bingham and Ricardo Forbes
Murderers Paul Bingham, 49, and Ricardo Forbes, 52, were also on the flight, nearly 18 years after being jointly convicted of a ‘brutal killing’.
Paul Bingham
The career criminals were handed life sentences for shooting crack cocaine dealer Harrington Jack at point-blank range. The pair went to his flat in North London to try to steal his drugs in 2002. They ordered him to turn out his pockets, and shot him in the chest when he refused.
They used the same silver Brocock airgun – which had been modified to shoot real bullets – to threaten customers when robbing a string of bookmakers. Bingham tied up the manager of a Berkshire betting shop – and his wife – before grabbing £3,100. Weeks later, they robbed a William Hill in South London.
Michael White
Murderer Michael Antonio White avoided deportation yesterday after a last-minute appeal by lawyers.
He and accomplice Hopeton Alexander Pink received life sentences at London’s Kingston Crown Court in 2003. They ambushed victims Sean Black and Robert Bayley – whom they believed owed them money – and shot Mr Black six times at close range, killing him.
‘This young man’s trafficking claim was refused at the last minute, with the Home Office relying on evidence we didn’t have sight of and couldn’t have prepared for. The decision is clearly challengeable, yet our client was still deported.’
The lawyers’ celebrations came as MailOnline revealed the convicted cocaine dealer father of a Premier League academy footballer was among criminals set for deportation to Jamaica on the flight.
Courts had ruled the crook – whose identity cannot be reported under a restriction order – should be transported to the country after serving three years for four counts of supplying Class A drugs.
Details on the new criminal come after murderer and two rapists avoided the latest deportation after yesterday’s legal challenge.
In all, 23 serious criminals submitted last-minute appeals – including human rights claims – which led to them avoiding deportation to Jamaica.
They had been sentenced to a combined 156 years in jail.
Only 13 criminals from an original list of 57 were on board a Home Office charter plane which took off from Stansted Airport in Essex in the early hours of yesterday.
They included two ‘Yardies’ who shot a man dead on his doorstep and a man who stabbed a 50-year-old to death after a scuffle outside a pub.
The remaining 21 originally targeted for removal had submitted earlier legal challenges or were taken off the passenger list for other reasons.
All 57 were born in Jamaica and none were UK citizens – but Labour campaigned to keep them in the UK.
Opposition MPs compared the deportation flight with the Windrush scandal, even though the Caribbean migrants who suffered awful injustice in that episode were entirely innocent and had committed no crimes.
Murderers Paul Bingham and Ricardo Forbes were deported on yesterday’s 2am flight, 17 years after shooting crack dealer Harrington Jack at point-blank range.
Also deported yesterday on the chartered Boeing-757 was Fitzroy Daley, who killed Eric Paul after the pair fought outside an East London pub in 2012.
It was not known last night if the Home Office will attempt to deport murderer White at a later date.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘Each week we remove foreign criminals from the UK to different countries who have no right to be here, and since January 2019 we have removed over 6,400 foreign national offenders.
‘Our priority is to protect the British public and we are doing everything possible to reduce legal challenges and increase the numbers of FNOs and those with no right to remain in the UK being removed.’
Thandie Newton, left, and Bond actress Naomie Harris, right, signed the petition
Appeal: Historian David Olusoga urged airlines not to carry out Home Office deportations
Immigration Minister Chris Philp said: ‘It is disappointing that specialist immigration law firms continued to use last-minute tactics to remove a significant number of offenders from this flight.
‘Those we are attempting to remove have committed crimes which have a devastating impact on victims and their families.’
More than 60 opposition MPs, most from Labour, tried to stop the flight, saying of the criminals: ‘Britain is their home.’ MPs who signed the letter included ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott and ex-shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
Miss Patel said ‘the idea of these deportations being halted at the last minute only serves to re-traumatise [their victims]’.
Pressure group Detention Action said some of the criminals should not be deported as they had ‘high blood pressure’.
Deportations to Jamaica have become politically charged since the Windrush scandal, in which scores of legal migrants from the Caribbean were wrongly removed from Britain.
EXCLUSIVE: Cocaine-dealer father of a Premier League academy player is one of 23 crooks – including a murderer and two rapists – spared from deportation flight to Jamaica after 11th-hour challenge from Labour, luvvies and lawyers
- Cocaine dealer dad of football player was due to be flown back to Jamaica
- One planned flight descended into chaos after 23 serious criminals appealed.
- Michael Antonio White, convicted of murder, was taken off yesterday’s flight
- He was sentenced to life in prison after shooting his victim 6 times in a drug deal
- In all, 23 criminals submitted appeals which led to them avoiding deportation
The convicted cocaine dealer father of a Premier League academy footballer was among criminals set for deportation to Jamaica on the flight challenged by Labour MPs and celebrities.
Courts have ruled the crook – whose identity cannot be reported under a restriction order – should be transported to the country after serving three years for four counts of supplying Class A drugs.
The Jamaican national, who entered the UK in 1988 as a visitor, was first served with a notice to deport back in September 2003 a year after his convictions.
But after 17 years of battling the Home Office, including one spell when he was on the run for seven years, in October it was ruled he would be deported.
It is understood he was slated for one of the UK flights back to Jamaica of foreign criminals.
One planned journey descended into chaos yesterday after 23 serious crooks submitted last-minute appeals – including human rights claims – which led to them avoiding deportation.
Model Naomi Campbell, Line of Duty star Thandie Newton, James Bond actress Naomie Harris and historian David Olusoga were among celebrities who signed an open letter demanding none of the offenders be removed, at least for the time being.
They believe many of the people on the flight had lived in the UK since they were kids and could be descendants of the Windrush generation or have turned to crime after being forced to by traffickers.
Details on the new criminal come after murderer and two rapists avoided the latest deportation after yesterday’s legal challenge.
Michael Antonio White, convicted of murder in 2003 after shooting a man six times, was taken off the plane after a last-minute appeal.
Others who dodged deportation yesterday included the two rapists, two convicted of attempted murder and others convicted of supplying Class A drugs and possessing firearms.
In all, 23 serious criminals submitted last-minute appeals – including human rights claims – which led to them avoiding deportation to Jamaica. They had been sentenced to a combined 156 years in jail.
Only 13 criminals from an original list of 57 were on board a Home Office charter plane which took off from Stansted Airport in Essex in the early hours of yesterday.
They included two ‘Yardies’ who shot a man dead on his doorstep and a man who stabbed a 50-year-old to death after a scuffle outside a pub.
The remaining 21 originally targeted for removal had submitted earlier legal challenges or were taken off the passenger list for other reasons.
All 57 were born in Jamaica and none were UK citizens – but Labour campaigned to keep them in the UK.
Opposition MPs compared the deportation flight with the Windrush scandal, even though the Caribbean migrants who suffered awful injustice in that episode were entirely innocent and had committed no crimes.
Murderers Paul Bingham and Ricardo Forbes were deported on yesterday’s 2am flight, 17 years after shooting crack dealer Harrington Jack at point-blank range.
Also deported yesterday on the chartered Boeing-757 was Fitzroy Daley, who killed Eric Paul after the pair fought outside an East London pub in 2012.
It was not known last night if the Home Office will attempt to deport murderer White at a later date.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘Each week we remove foreign criminals from the UK to different countries who have no right to be here, and since January 2019 we have removed over 6,400 foreign national offenders.
‘Our priority is to protect the British public and we are doing everything possible to reduce legal challenges and increase the numbers of FNOs and those with no right to remain in the UK being removed.’
Immigration Minister Chris Philp said: ‘It is disappointing that specialist immigration law firms continued to use last-minute tactics to remove a significant number of offenders from this flight.
‘Those we are attempting to remove have committed crimes which have a devastating impact on victims and their families.’
More than 60 opposition MPs, most from Labour, tried to stop the flight, saying of the criminals: ‘Britain is their home.’ MPs who signed the letter included ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott and ex-shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
Miss Patel said ‘the idea of these deportations being halted at the last minute only serves to re-traumatise [their victims]’.
Pressure group Detention Action said some of the criminals should not be deported as they had ‘high blood pressure’.
Deportations to Jamaica have become politically charged since the Windrush scandal, in which scores of legal migrants from the Caribbean were wrongly removed from Britain.
