Migrant who sexually assaulted 15-year-old while awaiting deportation given chance to stay in Britain
A MONSTER migrant who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old while waiting to be deported was given another chance to stay – because of European human rights laws.
Sarmad Raza Sheikh, 46, claimed to have depression and psychotic episodes, with a judge siding with his claim he cannot be treated well enough in his native Pakistan.
It means the case must be heard again to determine whether deportation would violate mental health regulations in the controversial European Convention of Human Rights.
Sheikh came to Britain in 2006 as a mature student before overstaying and refusing to leave once his visa ran out in 2011.
The migrant even attempted to stay by submitting a fake degree diploma which he had never actually achieved, according to Tribunal papers seen by The Sun.
In October 2012, the crook was cautioned by cops over an undisclosed sex offence committed while his third application to stay was being processed.
He made two more bids to remain in Britain, though they were also turned down when he refused to cough up the necessary fees.
Finally in May 2017, six years after his leave to remain expired, Sheikh was served with a deportation notice for overstaying.
But the fiend had not been flown home by September 2018 when he was convicted of a depraved sex attack on a 15-year-old teen.
The monster was handed only 12 weeks in prison with Home Office officials deciding the offending did not meet the threshold for automatic deportation, which could have sped up his flight home.
Sheikh was set free from jail after only six weeks and began working illegally for a tech firm in 2020.
At the time he was attempting another appeal against his asylum claim being refused.
A tribunal hearing last month heard the brute had presented at Charing Cross Hospital this August – a month before his final hearing – claiming to be suffering from depression.
He was said to be not well enough to attend his hearing over video link.
Judge ruling
Siding with Sheikh, Judge Fiona Lindsley ruled the case must be heard again “in light of new medical developments”.
She warned his removal may violate Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as judges previously did not consider the impact of deportation on his mental well-being.
The judge added other rulings had not considered whether he could be treated abroad to an acceptable standard.
And Ms Lindsley said no findings from earlier hearings could be preserved — including a ruling his sex crime conviction made it “not conducive to the public good” for him to remain in the UK.
It comes after Albanian robber Ardit Binaj, 32, also used the Euro human rights charter to stay in the country – despite already being deported.
And documents released yesterday also showed how alleged murderer Fatmir Bleta, 64, also avoided being sent to Albania despite already being in prison here.
His solicitors successfully claimed any extradition would breach his Article 6 rights to a fair trial under the ECHR.
The Home Office was asked to comment.