RP001482018

For the Respondent: Mr Fripp, Counsel instructed by Duncan Lewis & Co Solicitors

The Respondent Mr [Y] is a national of Somalia date of birth 1 th September 1996. On the 23 rd January 2019 the First-tier Tribunal (Judge Hodgkinson) allowed, on protection grounds, his appeal against a decision to deport him. The Secretary of State now has permission to appeal against that decision.

The following matters are not in dispute. Mr [Y] arrived in this country in 2002 when he was five years old. The following year he, his mother and brother were all granted indefinite leave to remain as refugees. On the 13 th January 2017 Mr [Y] was convicted, upon a guilty plea, of possession of Class A drugs (heroin and cocaine) with intent to supply: he was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment. This followed an earlier conviction for possession of cannabis and theft. As a result of these convictions the Respondent took action to deport Mr [Y].

Section 32(1)-(5) of the United Kingdom Borders Act 2007 provides, that subject to the exceptions in section 33 of the Act, the Secretary of State must take action to deport a foreign criminal who was been convicted of a crime in the United Kingdom for which he has received a sentence of 12 months or more. 'Exception 1' in section 33 is that the automatic deportation provisions shall not apply where a person's removal would place the United Kingdom in breach of its obligations under either a) the Refugee Convention or b) the European Convention on Human Rights.

The first question for the First-tier Tribunal was therefore whether Mr [Y] was subject to 'automatic deportation'. Having regard to the length of his sentence of imprisonment it found that he was, and neither party has any complaint about that.