An Albanian criminal has been permitted to stay in Britain because his son could have a learning disability.
Blendi Axhami’s son was born in the UK in 2017 – just a few years after his convict father had arrived illegally in the UK.
The young boy is mainly looked after by his mother, while Axhami looks after his son once a week.
Now, it has come to light that the father had been handed an eight-year-long jail sentence in Albania for an unspecified crime – for which the Home Office tried to give him the boot.
However, the convict was able to resist his deportation by deploying the excuse that his son is currently being treated “as if he is autistic” and is currently waiting for his final diagnosis, a tribunal heard.
Official documents have revealed that the criminal first applied to remain in the UK after his son’s birth but failed to declare his previous conviction.
His criminal history was unveiled after he was arrested twice in 2021 and was charged with one charge for possession of Class A drugs.
As a result, the Home Office threw out his application for “leave to remain”.
Lower Tribunal judge Angharad Lloyd-Lawrie ruled that the criminal’s son “would face considerable distress” if his father was extradited.
The Home Office then launched an appeal against the ruling but the case was dismissed earlier this year in January.
A Home Office spokesman confirmed that the department “fought this case right the way through the tribunal system…
“Foreign nationals who commit heinous crimes should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free on Britain’s streets.”
Axhami has become the latest case where a foreign criminal has managed to avoid deportation.
Recently, another Albanian criminal sparked fury after dodging deportation because his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets.
Klevis Disha, 39, came to the UK illegally in February 2001, when he was a 15-year-old unaccompanied child.
An immigration tribunal ruled that it would be “unduly harsh” for C to be forced to move to Albania with his father owing to his sensitivity around food.
The sole example provided to the court was his distaste for the “type of chicken nuggets that are available abroad.”