December 25, 2015
A British judge has ordered the government to pay an Iranian, who is both an illegal immigrant and a convicted rapist, some extra money so he can visit his toddler son without cutting back on his smoking habit.
The Iranian’s name was not revealed in the report on the court decision carried in the London daily Express. It said the man has been in Britain illegally for 11 years. Britain has wanted to deport him, but Iran will not take him back.
The Express said a judge ruled the man is entitled to claim travel expenses from the government for his twice-a-month visits to his young son so his human rights are not breached.
The Iranian told the court his $21-a-day smoking habit means he does not have enough to pay the $20 fare from his home to where his son lives 130 miles away. He had argued in court that the government’s refusal to pay those transport costs was “unjustifiable.”
The High Court ruled the man should be able to claim the costs from the government as he had already cut down on food to support his nicotine habit. Judge Michael Kent said that not paying travel expenses to the rapist flouted human rights legislation that makes private and family life sacrosanct.
The judge said the refusal to pay travel costs had not taken into account the “best interests” of the child who was born to a British woman who was not then and is not now married to the Iranian.
The court decision has been attracting attention and criticism that it makes a mockery of the law. Conservative MP Philip Hollobone said: “Many people up and down the country will be absolutely appalled by what is yet another abuse of the justice system. This is one more reason why the government must get on with abolishing the Human Rights Act so we can restore common sense to the law.”
After failed asylum bids, the man was convicted of rape in 2009 and sentenced to five years in prison.
Upon his release, he could not be deported to Iran. He went to live in Brighton and later struck up a relationship with a woman who gave birth to his child in September 2013.
He was not present for the birth as he was then back in jail for drug offences. The Express said his relationship with the child’s mother had broken down by the time he was released from jail the second time last December.