The European Court of Human Rights has overturned a UK deportation order for a 24-year-old Nigerian man convicted of rape as a teenager, ruling that removal would disproportionately breach his right to family life.
The man, identified only as AA, arrived in the UK at age 13 to join his mother, a nurse. In 2002, aged 15, he was convicted alongside a group of boys for raping a 13-year-old girl. He spent four years in a Young Offenders Institution. The trial judge described the intelligent teenager's actions as having a 'profound and distressing effect' on the victim.
While AA was in custody, his mother was granted permanent residence, which extended to her children. After release, a parole board assessed him as low risk of reoffending, and he eventually completed a master's degree and began working for a London local authority.
The Home Office had served a deportation order in 2004, sparking a legal battle that reached the Strasbourg court. The European judges noted that while the offence was serious, AA's exemplary conduct, rehabilitation, and seven years of reintegration meant deportation was not necessary for preventing disorder or crime.
A UK Border Agency spokesman expressed disappointment, stating the government is determined to remove foreign criminals and that family life rights should not override public protection. However, AA's legal representatives, the Aire Centre, welcomed the decision, saying it recognised rehabilitation and would have sent a 'terrible message' about juvenile offenders if he had been deported.
