Post by Focus on Jul 1, 2013 4:34:15 GMT
* Lee Corbin, 50, originally of Jamaica, has 75 criminal convictions to his name
* An immigration tribunal ruled he could stay under human rights legislation
* They cited his 'amazing' relationship with his children
* Theresa May tried to step in and have him deported but her appeal failed
A violent criminal was spared deportation to his native Barbados because he has an 'amazing' relationship with the seven children he has fathered with three different women.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, attempted to send back 50-year-old Lee Corbin, who has been handed jail terms totalling 16 years, after he finished his latest four-year jail term for a robbery at knife-point.
But an immigration tribunal ruled that while he represents a danger to the public and his partner and is likely to re-offend, his human rights outweigh the danger he poses.
The panel ruled that because Corbin, who has 75 criminal convictions to his name, has an 'amazing (sic) strong family life' he should be allowed to stay.
Corbin, who arrived on UK shores in 1978 at 16, can now stay in Britain permanently, according to reports.
Repeat violent offender Lee Corbin, who was jailed for a knife-point robbery in 2010, is allowed to remain in this country after an immigration tribunal decided his family life entitled him to stay
He was convicted of robbery at Bristol Crown Court in 1997 and jailed for six years.
In 2005, he was jailed for eight weeks for a number of motoring offences and resisting a constable, after which he was warned he faced deportation if he re-offended.
Ignoring their warnings, he was convicted of attempted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon and jailed for four years in 2010.
He put a knife at his victim’s throat in the course of the offence. Corbin's lawyer fought the deportation under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the 'right to private and family life'.
'He relied upon his private life formed over 34 years in the UK and also family life which he had formed with seven children who had been born to three different partners in the UK,' said the court papers.
'The first-tier tribunal allowed the appeal under the rules and also under Article 8.'
After his successful appeal the Home Secretary lodged an appeal against the decision, highlighting the volume of offences and arguing the judges did not take into account the 'high risk of re-offending'.
Home Secretary, Theresa May
She also said the court had failed to apply new rules that foreign criminals can only successfully use Article 8 in 'exceptional' cases.
Despite this, Upper Tribunal Judge Andrew Grubb said the original judges did not make any mistakes and upheld the decision, dismissing Mrs May's appeal.
MPs blasted the case as 'scandalous' and said it highlighted an urgent need for reform of human rights laws.
Priti Patel, a Conservative MP, said: 'This is a scandalous example of how human rights legislation is being used and abused by criminals who have no regard for conventional family life.
'This is a very clear example of why we need the Home Office and the British Parliament to have the final say on such cases.'
A Home Office spokesman said: 'This kind of case is precisely why we are looking to change the law in the new Immigration Bill which will be introduced later this year.
'We want to ensure the courts properly reflect Parliament’s view that serious criminals should be deported unless there are very exceptional circumstances.
[''This is a scandalous example of how human rights legislation is being used and abused by criminals who have no regard for conventional family life"] - and here we are yet again, with another fcking piss take!! - Fx
