A Nigerian rapist escaped deportation yesterday after European judges ruled he had a right to a "private life" in Britain, storms the Daily Mail. Akindoyin Akinshipe, 24, we are told, was due to be sent home after losing appeal after appeal in the British courts over his jailing for an attack on a girl of 13.
But, says the paper, in a staggering reversal yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights said this would breach his right to a "private and family life". This is despite him not having a wife, long-term partner or children in the UK.
However, you have to read a long way into the article before you find out that Akinshipe was 13 when he came here, was 15 when he committed the crime, has been fully rehabilitated, and his mother and sisters live here. There may be a very good reason for deporting this person, and it should always by British judges that make the decision.
Nonetheless, you do get the feeling – he said guardedly – that the story is not exactly balanced. This is not honest journalism.
That apart – this is another one for Cameron, the man who was going to do something about the ECHR … like he was going to do something about the Agency Workers Directive. Perhaps we should deport him to Brussels, where he would really be at home.
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