UI2024001096

             Although the appellant in the proceedings before me is the Secretary of State, it is convenient to refer to the parties as they were before the First-tier Tribunal ("FtT").

             The respondent appeals a decision of First-tier Tribunal Judge Hillis, who allowed the appellant's appeal against a decision dated 9 March 2023 to remove him pursuant to the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 ("the EEA Regulations"). Judge Hillis' decision was promulgated on 14 February 2024.

             The appellant is a citizen of Albania who was born in 1993. He arrived in the UK illegally in 2012. He was convicted on 14 April 2022 of an offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and received a sentence of 15 months' imprisonment in the Crown Court sitting at Wood Green. The result of that was that on 9 March 2023 the respondent made the decision to which I have referred.

             Judge Hillis referred to the time that the appellant had spent in prison, commencing on 27 March 2022, following the conviction by a jury of the assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Judge Hillis said that the period of time in prison could not count towards his residence for the purposes of establishing five years' lawful residence (which would allow protection from removal as a person with permanent residence).

         Judge Hillis reminded himself at para 20 that the risk or threat of harm did not need to be imminent. He took into account certain certificates that indicated the appellant had completed courses following his release, in terms of critical thinking and anger management, and he concluded that there was no evidence that the appellant was not fully engaged in those courses.