Monday 4 November 2013

UKBA: Catch 22?

An interesting conundrum cropped up at Southwark Crown Court this morning.

The Defendant, an Algerian national (there was no mention that he had been in the UK unlawfully when the offence was committed), was convicted of a crime.  A matter concerning his appeal of this conviction was due to be heard this morning, but there was a bit of a problem in that the Appellant was not present in Court. (Things were not helped by the fact that neither were any legal representatives on his behalf).

The interesting point is that the reason the Appellant was not present was because since his conviction he left the UK, and has been refused permission to return to the UK to attend his appeal hearing. The reason: the conviction that he seeks to appeal.

That's one Joseph Heller would have been proud of.

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