Albanian drug offender who grew 200 cannabis plants avoids deportation under ECHR because his girlfriend does not speak his language

Iberhasaj claimed his deportation would breach his rights to a family life with his partner under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

He claimed this outweighed his criminal threat to Britain, given that he had been jailed for less than a year, the current threshold above which foreign offenders face automatic deportation.

Iberhasaj was found at the Derbyshire property alongside another male, who said they had only been at the property for a matter of days.

They claimed they were being paid to water and feed the crops, which were already in various stages of growth.

Tom Heath, prosecuting, told Derby Crown Court that Iberhasaj answered “no comment” to initial questions posed by police officers, but later pleaded guilty.

While upper immigration tribunal judge Sarah Pinder admitted that growing cannabis “certainly” could cause “serious societal harm”, she added the four-month sentence handed to Iberhasaj was “indicative” that his conviction “in the specific circumstances of the offending, did not cause ‘serious harm”.

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Judge Pinder remarked: “Expecting [Iberhasaj’s] partner to relocate with [him] to Albania, would, I accept, cause her unjustifiably harsh consequences.

“This is because she has no ties or links to Albania other than through [Iberhasaj] and she has never visited Albania nor lived there herself.“

“She gave evidence, which I accept, that she is committed to her employment and to being independent, enjoying her career and earning her salary.

“I also accept her evidence that she has recently been providing daily support to her sister and her mother, who each have health and physical needs with her sister in particular being investigated for a possible cancer diagnosis.”

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Home Office lawyers argued Iberhasaj had started his relationship with his partner at a time when he had no legal right to be in the UK.

The Home Office had also made clear it intended to deport him, a fact that she had been made aware of from the beginning by Iberhasaj.

Lawyers suggested that while it was “inconvenient” for his partner to move to Albania because of the language issues, Iberhasaj had been able to adapt to the UK when not speaking English

They stressed the initial offence “caused serious harm” because the trade in illicit drugs had “a severe and negative impact on society, adding: “It is a process causing misery and sometimes death to the many thousands of people who are unfortunate enough to become addicted to them. Drug addiction affects not only on the drug users themselves, but also their families.”

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The decision regarding to Iberhasaj and Article 8 comes as ministers are pushing to change the way the laws apply in migration cases.

Article 8 has been used alongside Article 3, the protection against inhuman or degrading treatment, to prevent people with no right to be in the UK being sent back to their home countries.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told ministers from other ECHR countries: “The definition of ‘family life’ can’t be stretched to prevent the removal of people with no right to remain in the country. The threshold of ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’ must be constrained to the most serious issues.

“States must be able to take proportionate decisions on the removal of foreign criminals, so that we renew the convention’s democratic foundation.”

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Both Reform UK and the Conservatives have pledged to take the UK out of the ECHR should either win the next General Election.

Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch said: “I have not come to this decision lightly, but it is clear that it is necessary to protect our borders, our veterans, and our citizens.

“I have always been clear that we should leave the ECHR, if necessary, but unlike other parties we have done the serious work to develop a plan to do so, backed by legal advice from a distinguished King’s Counsel.”

A Reform UK spokesman dismissed these plans, adding: “The Conservatives had 14 years in government to leave the ECHR. Since then, it’s taken them 14 months to even decide what their policy is…the Conservative Party is finished.”