An Albanian people smuggler has been permitted to remain in Britain because he has been deemed a “valuable member of society” - although there was no "objective" indication of him being so.
Kristjan Agolli, 36, was handed a prison sentence of three years and three months in 2023 for smuggling Albanians into Britain to work on illegal cannabis farms in unused industrial buildings and converted houses.
The Home Office ordered his deportation - although he insisted that such an order would breach his right to a family life which was protected under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
A lower immigration tribunal judge subsequently deemed the deportation to be “unduly harsh” for his Romanian wife - who had never lived in Albania and could not speak the language.
Kristjan Agolli, 36, was handed a prison sentence of three years and three months back in 2023 for smuggling Albanians into Britain
Met Police
The judge made his decision based on a promise by Agolli and his wife to not break the law again, The Telegraph reported.
However, there was no evidence to back up their vow from probation reports or attendance of rehabilitation courses.
He concluded: “[Agolli] poses a low risk of reoffending and has not reoffended since his release from prison and has become a valuable member of society.”
In response, the Home Office appealed the ruling, which led to an upper tribunal judge declaring that it was “plainly wrong and rationally unsustainable” and “contrary to the weight of evidence”.
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Agolli’s case has been passed back to the lower-tribunal to be reassessed since the first ruling “erred in relying exclusively upon [Agolli] personal evidence and that of his wife, when finding as a fact that he has been rehabilitated”.
It was revealed that there was no indication of rehabilitative work by the claimant in evidence provided to the court.
Additionally, reliance on the protective factors of his family were "over-optimistic" as "these same factors were available to the claimant at the time of the commission of his offending, and one of those whose clandestine entry he sought to facilitate was a family member".
As a result, the court's statement argued that the first judge's rationale was "inadequate and circular" and failed to consider the public interest in deporting foreign criminals.
The people were smuggled into Britain by hiding themselves inside a lorry, behind the driver’s seat
Met Police
However, the upper tribunal highlighted that the initial judge’s statement contrasted with the trial judge’s statement when he insisted that Agolli’s behaviour was a “one-off” and “very much out of character”.
The trial judge revealed that the criminal had an organisational role within the people smuggling operation and was “close to the heart of the conspiracy, and not simply a one-off customer”.
Agolli’s case is the latest scenario in which a foreign criminal has managed to dodge deportation by using rights enshrined in the ECHR.
This morning, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has once again reiterated that a future Tory administration would leave the European convention if it did not serve British interests.
