A CONVICTED child sex offender from Pakistan has successfully challenged government attempts to send him back to his homeland, claiming he faces danger because his criminal acts became public there.
Jamil Ahmed, 48, persuaded immigration judges that deporting him would breach his human rights after newspapers in Pakistan reportedly covered his convictions for abusing teenage girls in Scotland, reported The Times.
The case highlighted ongoing legal complexities surrounding the removal of foreign nationals who have committed serious crimes in Britain.
Ahmed first faced justice in 2008 when courts found him guilty of unlawful sexual activity with a girl aged between 13 and 16. He received a three-year probation order and was ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work.
Five years later, he appeared in court again on similar charges involving another teenager. This time, magistrates sentenced him to three years and six months in prison and placed him permanently on the sex offenders register.
Following his second conviction, immigration officials issued a deportation order. However, Ahmed has spent nearly ten years fighting through the courts to remain in Britain, losing two previous appeals but never actually being removed.
At his latest tribunal hearing in Edinburgh, Ahmed's representatives argued that media coverage of his crimes had reached Pakistan through various publications, including the Daily Kashmir News.
The tribunal judgment said, "Ahmed asserts that he has a well-founded fear of persecution and is at risk of suffering serious harm in Pakistan because knowledge of his crimes have become known in Pakistan and published in newspapers."
He further claimed that local authorities in Pakistan had opened an investigation based on his convictions, and that religious leaders had issued a fatwa against him. He alleged that extremists were distributing leaflets containing his photograph and that armed men had visited his family home searching for him. Tragically, he said his father was subsequently shot dead.
The Home Office challenged the authenticity of the alleged Pakistani newspaper reports during proceedings.
Ahmed called Pakistani legal expert Asad Ali Khan to testify about the newspaper coverage, but the 2024 hearing judge dismissed this evidence, leading to Ahmed's initial defeat.
However, the Upper Tribunal ruled that the previous judge had made legal errors by failing to properly consider the expert testimony and other key evidence.
Judge Jeremy Rintoul concluded, "I consider that, cumulatively, the judge has failed to reach sustainable conclusions with respect to the documents, the wife's evidence and the expert's opinion."
Ahmed, who is married with children and continues living in Scotland, will now face a fresh hearing to determine his immigration status, the newspaper report added.
English questioning rose from 20 per cent to 31 per cent, and racist jokes from 36 per cent to 41 per cent
Workplace violence against Black and ethnic minority employees rises to 26 per cent
Highlights
The Trades Union Congress surveyed 1,044 Black, Asian and ethnic minority employees. The results show clear increases in racist behaviour between 2020 and 2026.
Workers having their English questioned rose from 20 per cent to 31 per cent. Those hearing racist jokes went up from 36 per cent to 41 per cent.
Racist comments made to workers or around them increased from 31 per cent to 36 per cent.
Violence and threats
The most worrying finding involves physical threats and violence, which jumped from 19 per cent to 26 per cent.
Racist posts shared on workplace social media grew from 22 per cent to 28 per cent. Racist materials being passed around increased from 19 per cent to 25 per cent.
Beyond direct racism, many workers face unfair treatment. Nearly half (45 per cent) said they get harder or less popular jobs.
Over two in five (43 per cent) receive unfair criticism. The same number (41 per cent) stay stuck on temporary contracts.
Work conditions got worse too. Those not getting enough hours rose from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.
Workers denied overtime went from 30 per cent to 37 per cent. Being kept on short-term contracts increased from 33 per cent to 41 per cent.
Direct managers cause most unfair treatment (35 per cent), followed by other managers (19 per cent).
Bullying mainly comes from direct managers (30 per cent) and colleagues (28 per cent). Racist behaviour mostly comes from colleagues (33 per cent) and customers or clients (22 per cent).
Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, said: "Black and ethnic minority workers are facing appalling and growing levels of racism and unfair treatment in Britain. This racism is plaguing the labour market – and it's getting worse."
The TUC is calling for urgent government action to tackle the problem. The union wants ring-fenced funding for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to enforce workplace protections.
It is pushing for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for companies with over 50 employees.
The TUC says the Employment Rights Act, which makes employers responsible for protecting workers from harassment by customers and clients, will be an important step forward.
The union also wants employers to treat racial harassment as a health and safety issue and monitor ethnicity data across recruitment, pay and promotions.