UI2023002373

              The Appellant is a citizen of Nigeria. His date of birth is 21 September 1991. In a decision of 17 August 2023 Upper Tribunal Judge Keith granted the Appellant permission to appeal against the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Judge Malik KC) dismissing his appeal against the decision of the SSHD on 13 February 2021 to refuse his application on human rights grounds. The SSHD made a decision to deport the Appellant because he is a foreign criminal.

              There were six grounds of appeal. Judge Keith granted permission on grounds 2 and 6 only. The scope of the error of law hearing before me is limited to those grounds.

              The Appellant joined his parents in the UK in 1999. He has a lengthy history of committing criminal offences which the judge set out at [4]. The trigger offence involved dishonesty. The Appellant was sentenced to four years' imprisonment with a further fourteen months to run concurrently and a confiscation order (£9,295) following his conviction on 19 September 2019.

              The Appellant's appeal came before the FTT. The parties were represented at the hearing. The judge heard evidence from the Appellant who adopted his witness statements as evidence-in-chief. The judge accepted the statements of evidence from the Appellant's family and church leader, Mr Banham and proceeded on the basis that those witness statements had been formally adopted. The judge set out the legislative framework at [20]-[25].

              In respect of s117 (4) of the 2002 Act (Exception 1) the judge found that the Appellant had been lawfully resident in the United Kingdom for most of his life and therefore met the requirement in s.117C(4)(a). He found that the Appellant was socially and culturally integrated in the United Kingdom.