Ugandan Killer Spared Deportation from the UK Due to Mental Health Concerns

Social Media · 2024-09-23T20:37:02Z

A Ugandan national, convicted of a brutal murder in London, has won a legal battle to remain in the UK, despite efforts by the Home Office to deport him. The man, identified only as ZM, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2006 for the murder of Eugen Breahna, whom he and a gang viciously attacked in the back of an ambulance. The court ruled that deporting ZM to Uganda would breach his human rights due to the lack of adequate mental health treatment in his home country.

The case revolved around ZM’s deteriorating mental health. Lawyers representing him argued that deportation to Uganda, where proper psychiatric care is unavailable, would be “inhumane” and lead to a rapid decline in his condition. They successfully invoked Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects individuals from inhuman or degrading treatment.

The court accepted that ZM would face "serious, rapid and irreversible decline" in his mental state if deported, citing the absence of adequate medical facilities in Uganda. Judge Christopher John Hanson emphasized, “I find that if [ZM] was removed to Uganda there would be serious, rapid and irreversible decline in their state of health resulting in intense suffering or significant reduction in life expectancy.”

ZM’s crime, a brutal murder, shocked London. He was part of a North London gang that pursued their victim, Eugen Breahna, into the back of an ambulance, where Breahna had sought refuge from the attackers. Armed with baseball bats and golf clubs, ZM and the gang cornered him and savagely beat him to death. Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee described the horror of the incident in court, saying, “He was trapped like a caged animal and clubbed to death in a place most normal human beings would think offered them sanctuary.” ZM, who was 18 at the time of the murder and is now 37, was ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years in prison.

Following his release, the Home Office sought to deport ZM to Uganda, but a first-tier immigration judge blocked the move. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, appealed the decision, but the appeal was dismissed. The court was told that ZM suffers from a psychiatric disorder characterized by a “pervasive distrust and suspiciousness,” which causes him to hold grudges and grievances against those he perceives as having wronged him. His lawyers argued that deportation would exacerbate his condition, as living in an unfamiliar environment without support in Uganda would likely lead to a worsening of his mental health.

The court found that ZM would face a traumatic experience if deported, as he has no friends or contacts in Uganda and would be separated from his mother, who resides in the UK. Judge Hanson noted, “All of those factors lead me to conclude that there is a real risk of ill-treatment, capable of breaching [ZM’s] Article 3 rights, in the context of reception procedures in Uganda.”

ZM’s case is just one of thousands currently before the UK courts. As of March this year, there were 27,000 appeals waiting to be heard, a significant rise from the previous year. The backlog is further complicated by over 110,000 asylum seekers in the system, and the Refugee Council predicts that the number of deportation challenges based on human rights grounds will continue to grow.

Based on a report from: Daily Telegraph 2024-09-24