Latest news with #ZenelBeshi
Times
14 hours ago
- Times
Albanian burglar's crimes not ‘extreme' enough for deportation
A serial burglar with nearly 50 convictions cannot be deported back to Albania after a judge ruled that his offending was not sufficiently 'extreme' to provoke public 'revulsion'. An immigration appeal hearing was told that Zenel Beshi had been jailed for six years in Italy for robbery, theft and false imprisonment, and that he had failed to disclose his convictions after arriving in Britain. Home Office officials argued that Beshi, who is in his mid-forties, posed a 'genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat' to the UK and should be deported. Judge Leonie Hirst acknowledged that Beshi's offending was 'serious and prolific' but ruled that his crimes were not of the 'very extreme' type that would cause 'deep public revulsion'. She upheld the decision of a lower tribunal to allow him to remain in the UK. Earlier, the upper tribunal was told that Beshi, a member of an Albanian criminal gang, was sentenced by appeal judges in Turin to six years in prison in 2017 after being convicted of robbery and false imprisonment as well as 44 charges of burglary and theft. He was released from prison by 2020 and moved to the UK, where he applied for a European Economic Area residence card as his spouse was an EEA citizen. That application was initially refused because Beshi had not provided evidence that his partner had EU treaty rights, but he successfully appealed and was granted a residency card. However, while awaiting the outcome of that appeal, he applied for leave to remain under the EU settlement scheme, which was implemented after the UK quit the bloc. Whitehall officials told an immigration judge that Beshi had not disclosed his previous burglary convictions. And in 2022, a year after his residence card was issued, officials moved to deport him on the grounds he posed a 'genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat' to the public. Beshi's settlement application was rejected on the same day. He took his claim to the lower tribunal in 2023, which, after hearing evidence from a psychologist, concluded that he was at low risk of reoffending and did not pose a serious threat to society. On that basis, Beshi was allowed to remain in the country. But Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, appealed against the ruling, arguing that the tribunal had misapplied the burden of proof, used the wrong threshold for protection from deportation, taken the incorrect approach to deportation and not given clear conclusions. In her ruling on that appeal, Hirst said that the issue of whether Beshi had disclosed his convictions was at best of 'limited relevance' to whether he should be allowed to stay in the UK. Backing the initial ruling, the judge said that while Beshi's 'previous offending was clearly both serious and prolific', the evidence 'did not on any view indicate that it was of the very extreme type of offending causing deep public revulsion which would justify expulsion'. Hirst praised the original judge's 'detailed, clear and well-structured' consideration of the case and said that there had been no error in law. The senior judge accepted that the original ruling had 'expressly recorded' that the psychologist had noted inconsistencies in Beshi's account, 'which appeared to indicate that he was minimising his culpability'. But Hirst supported the lower tribunal's view that 'notwithstanding those issues', Beshi was at 'low risk of violence and low risk of serious harm to others'. She added that the Home Office had failed to provide evidence to support the case that the Albanian should be deported and that officials' criticisms of the original judgment were 'not well founded'.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Albanian with 50 convictions can stay in UK as crimes ‘not extreme enough'
An Albanian burglar with almost 50 convictions has been allowed to stay in the UK after a judge found his crimes were not 'extreme' enough. Zenel Beshi's 'serious and prolific' offending saw him jailed for six years in Italy for robbery, theft and false imprisonment, an immigration tribunal was told. He failed to disclose these convictions when he arrived in Britain, however, said the Home Office. It told the tribunal that he posed a 'genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat ' to the UK and should be deported. However, Leonie Hirst, the upper tribunal Judge, rejected the Home Office's arguments. She found that Beshi's crimes were not of the 'very extreme' type of offending that would cause 'deep public revulsion', and allowed him to stay. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, accused the judge of being 'out of touch' as the Albanian was 'clearly a danger to the British public'. 'It's time these judges started to prioritise protecting law-abiding British citizens instead of foreign criminals,' he said. 'Foreign citizens who have committed criminal offences in the UK or elsewhere should all be removed back to their country of origin – no ifs, no buts. 'It's about time our human rights to be protected from dangerous criminals get respected, instead of the supposed rights of the criminal coming first. If I become home secretary, this will change.' The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example uncovered by The Telegraph where illegal migrants or convicted foreign criminals have been able to remain in the UK or halt their removal. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is proposing to change the law to make it harder for judges to grant the right to remain based on human rights claims and require them to take greater account of the impact of such a decision on public safety. Beshi arrived in the UK in August 2020, three years after he was sentenced in Turin, Italy, to six years in prison for robbery and false imprisonment, as well as 44 counts of burglary and theft. In September of that year, he applied for a European Economic Area (EEA) residence card as the spouse of an EEA national. His application was initially refused because he had not provided evidence that his partner had EU Treaty Rights but after he appealed, he was granted a residency card. While waiting for the outcome of his appeal, Beshi applied for leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme. However, the Home Office said he failed to disclose his burglary convictions and rejected his application in July 2022. At the same time, it decided to deport him on the grounds he was a 'genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat' to the UK public. Misapplied burden of proof Beshi appealed the decision and was backed by a first-tier tribunal after a psychologist concluded he was at 'low risk' of reoffending and did not pose a 'serious threat' to the interests of society. Ms Cooper appealed the decision, arguing that the court had misapplied the burden of proof, used the wrong threshold for protection from deportation, the incorrect approach to deportation and not given clear conclusions. Now, the Upper Tribunal has found that the issue of whether Beshi had disclosed his convictions is of 'little relevance' to the decision. Judge Hirst also concluded the lower chamber had used the correct standards for the deportation threshold and rehabilitation. 'Whilst [his] previous offending was clearly both serious and prolific, the evidence before the First-tier Tribunal did not on any view indicate that it was of the 'very extreme' type of offending causing 'deep public revulsion' which would justify expulsion,' she said. Judge Hirst also praised the first-tier tribunal's 'detailed, clear and well-structured' considerations and found no error in law that would overturn the lower chamber's decision allowing the Albanian to stay. 'We consider that the [Home Secretary's] criticisms of the first-tier tribunal's reasoning are not well-founded.' Nearly 270,000 home burglaries are reported to police each year with just one in 25 resulting in the thief being caught and charged. One in eight people (13 per cent) move home because of the trauma of experiencing the crime while a similar proportion said they could not bear to be home alone after the break-in A Home Office spokesman said: 'We have made it clear that we do not agree with this judgment and are considering options for appeal. 'Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free on Britain's streets, including removal from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity. 'We remain resolute in our commitment to ensuring there are no barriers to deport foreign criminals, as it is in the public interest for these people to be removed swiftly.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Albanian burglar with almost 50 convictions wins the right to stay in the UK as 'his crimes weren't extreme enough to "revolt" the public'
An Albanian burglar with nearly 50 convictions has won the right to stay in the UK as 'his crimes were not extreme enough to "revolt" the public'. Zenel Beshi has been dubbed a 'genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat' to the UK by the Home Office, which said he should be deported. But upper immigration tribunal judge Leonie Hirst found his crimes were not of the 'very extreme' type that would cause 'deep public revulsion' - and let him stay. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the ruling was 'out of touch' as Beshi is 'clearly a danger to the British public', The Telegraph reports. 'It's time these judges started to prioritise protecting law-abiding British citizens instead of foreign criminals', he said. Mr Philp added foreign criminals, no matter where their crime was committed, should all be sent back to their country of origin, 'no ifs, no buts'. It comes as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper proposes to change the law to make it harder to allow foreign citizens to stay in the UK on a human rights claim. Her suggested scheme would oblige judges to consider public safety more in such decisions. Beshi came to the UK in August 2020 - three years after he received a six-year prison sentence in Turin, Italy. As well as robbery and false imprisonment, he had been jailed for 44 counts of burglary and theft. But he failed to disclose his previous convictions upon his arrival in Britain. The Albanian applied for a European Economic Area (EEA) residence card, on the grounds he was a spouse of an EEA national. He was granted this, after his application was initially refused and he appealed. While he waited to hear back on this appeal, he applied for leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme. The Home Office, though, decided to deport him as a threat to the British public. Beshi appealed, which was upheld by a first tier tribunal, after a psychologist said he did not in fact constitute a 'serious threat' to society. They also said he posed a 'low risk' of reoffending. Ms Cooper appealed this decision - but an upper tribunal has now found Beshi not disclosing his previous convictions is of 'little relevance'. Judge Hirst said the deportation threshold and notions of rehabilitation had been applied correctly. She also lauded the legal arguments behind the decision to allow Beshi to stay as 'detailed, clear and well-structured'. The judge found there was no legal mistake to require overturning the decision - and allowed the criminal to remain. Almost half of Brits have no confidence that the police will show up if their home was burgled, a poll revealed earlier this year. Some 46 per cent of adults said they did not believe a home burglary would be properly investigated, with 49 per cent saying the same for car thefts. When looking at pensioners, with 54 per cent of those aged 65 or older expressing a lack of confidence in officers attending their property. And fears are not unjustified, as police failed to solve 94 per cent of burglary cases in 2023/24, according to Home Office figures. Just 16,912 (six per cent) of 266,215 recorded burglaries resulted in a charge. In nearly three-quarters of cases police officers were unable to even identify a suspect, and a further 15 per cent ran into evidential difficulties after a suspect was identified. Reported burglaries have fallen in the past decade, from around 444,000 in 2013/14 to the more than 266,000 in 2023/24. Meanwhile, 13 per cent of people move house because they cannot bear to stay in their home after it has been burgled. A similar proportion have said they are unable to stand being home alone after their house has been invaded. A Home Office spokesperson has previously said: 'We do not agree with this judgment and are considering options for appeal. 'Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free on Britain's streets, including removal from the UK at the earliest opportunity.'
