Drug dealer can stay in the UK after making bizarre promise

A Jamaican drug dealer has avoided deportation after vowing he will ‘only smoke’ weed and not sell it. Shawn Rickford McLeod, 40, arrived in the UK in 2000. He received a deportation order after being jailed for over three years for supplying class A drugs. McLeod appealed against the order, saying deportation would violate his rights to a family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as he has three young children in the UK with his wife.

At the immigration tribunal, Judge David Chaim Brannan agreed that deportation would be ‘unduly harsh’ and believes McLeod ‘genuinely wants to avoid reoffending so he can care for his children’. While the tribunal ruled in his favour, McLeod made it clear he still ‘intended to use cannabis’, openly sharing his views on the matter with his prison and probation officers as well as Judge Brannan.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the tribunal’s decision as ‘mindboggling’, calling for an overhaul of the system. ‘These foreign criminals should all be kicked out,’ he says. ‘The ever-expanding interpretation of ECHR articles by weak immigration judges has to end. ‘Immigration judges seem more interested in letting foreign drug dealers and paedophiles stay in the UK than in upholding the law and protecting the British public from likely re-offending.

‘This farce has to end, and it’s clear fundamental changes to human rights laws are needed.’. Possession of a class B drug, including cannabis, is illegal in Britain. Those found in possession of the drugs, which also include amphetamines and codeine, can be handed a five-year prison sentence. The initial decision to let McLeod remain in the UK was appealed by the Home Office in December, with the case being referred back to the lower court.

This move was backed by an upper tribunal judge, Karim-ullah Akbar Khan, but after McLeod’s case was reconsidered, he was ultimately allowed to stay. Judge Brannan based the ruling on the 2002 Immigration Act, which says those with sentences under four years will be deported unless they have a ‘genuine’ relationship with a ‘qualifying child’. Commenting on his use of cannabis, Judge Brannan told McLeod: ‘You cannot look after your children properly or do a job properly if you are stoned.

‘It is also illegal, and the rule of law overrides any contention that it is legitimate because it is part of [McLeod’s] culture.’. Judge Khan accepted that the children’s quality of life would be improved by the ruling but still disagreed with Judge Brannan’s reasoning, The Sun reports. He said: ‘I find there is a material error of law as a result of the judge’s inadequate and confused reasoning.

‘The judge was well aware that [McLeod] intended to continue to use cannabis. ‘Despite this clear evidence, the judge goes on to find that if he refrains from offending, including from the use of drugs, that the prospects of the children will be considerably improved. ‘He reaches a conclusion which is clearly unsupported by the limited reasons provided.’. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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