Drug dealer deportation case reconsidered after error

A convicted drug dealer's deportation case will be reheard after the Home Office wrongly accepted he had been a lawful UK resident for most of his life.

Olajiire Obafemi Shoyombo, a Nigerian national, was jailed for 40 months in 2023 after being convicted at Nottingham Crown Court of two offences involving the supply of heroin and crack cocaine.

He had argued he should be allowed to stay in the UK under the "private life exception" - which can apply to foreign nationals who have spent most of their life in Britain lawfully - and would face "very significant obstacles" if returned to their home country.

His initial appeal on human rights grounds was allowed by a lower-tier tribunal but has since been referred back to them by the upper tribunal, which found the decision was based on a "mistake as to fact".

According to tribunal documents, Shoyombo was unlawfully in the UK for more than eight years after arriving on a visitor visa in 2005, when he was three years old.

He was later granted leave to remain during various periods between 2014 and 2022, totalling around nine years of lawful residence.

The case will now return to the lower tribunal for a fresh hearing.

The Home Office does not dispute that Shoyombo is socially and culturally integrated in the UK or that he would face serious difficulties if removed to Nigeria.

However, the tribunal must now decide whether there are "very compelling circumstances" that outweigh the public interest in deportation.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are doing everything in our power to contest this case, and having successfully appealed against it, it will now be reheard.

"We are taking immediate action to ensure immigration rules are respected and enforced."

It comes weeks after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper pledged to clarify deportation rules and said she would give judges clearer guidance on how to interpret human rights claims and assess public interest.

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