Jamaican Drug Dealer Allowed to Stay in UK After Pledging to Only Smoke Cannabis

[Social Media]

 

A Jamaican drug dealer has avoided deportation from the UK after convincing an immigration judge that he would refrain from selling drugs, though he admitted he would continue using cannabis. Shawn Rickford McLeod, 40, who arrived in Britain in 2000, was initially ordered to be deported following a prison sentence of three years and four months for supplying class A drugs.

 

However, he successfully appealed the order, arguing that deportation would violate his right 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.  

 

Judge David Chaim Brannan, presiding over a lower immigration tribunal, ruled in McLeod’s favor, stating that deportation would be “unduly harsh” on his children and acknowledging that “he genuinely wants to avoid reoffending (except for cannabis use) so he can care for his children.” Despite this, McLeod openly admitted to both his prison and probation officers, as well as Judge Brannan, that he intended to continue using cannabis regardless of whether he was permitted to remain in the country.  

 

The Home Office challenged the ruling, and an upper tribunal judge, Karim-ullah Akbar Khan, sided with the government in December, sending the case back to the lower court for reconsideration. The case, revealed through court documents, highlights a broader trend where illegal migrants and convicted foreign criminals use human rights laws to resist deportation.  

 

Similar cases include an Albanian national who avoided removal after claiming his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets and a Pakistani man convicted of child sex offences who was permitted to stay in the UK because his deportation was deemed “unduly harsh” on his own children.  

 

The backlog of immigration appeals has reached a record 34,169 cases, the majority based on human rights arguments, posing a challenge to Labour’s pledge to fast-track the removal of illegal migrants. Last week, Sir Keir Starmer promised to close a loophole that allowed a family from Gaza to enter the UK through an application under a Ukrainian refugee scheme. Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a major overhaul of human rights laws to restrict judges from using ECHR family rights provisions to block deportations.  

 

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized the decision in McLeod’s case, calling it “mind-boggling” and “appalling.” He stated, “These foreign criminals should all be kicked out. 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.”  

 

 

Judge Brannan referenced the 2002 Immigration Act, which mandates deportation for individuals sentenced to less than four years in prison unless they can demonstrate a “genuine and subsisting” relationship with a qualifying child and prove that removal would be “unduly harsh.” He concluded that McLeod’s deportation would be too severe a hardship for his three children, aged seven, four, and one, despite noting that there was no evidence his imprisonment had caused them “any specific harm.”  

 

The judge did warn McLeod about his continued cannabis use, stating, “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.” However, he ultimately ruled in McLeod’s favor, accepting that “it is [McLeod] who has the power to decide what to do, and I accept that he genuinely wants to avoid reoffending (except for cannabis use) so he can care for his children.”  

 

Judge Khan, in rejecting the lower court’s ruling, found a “contradiction” in McLeod’s claim that he wanted to avoid reoffending while simultaneously stating he would continue using cannabis. Cannabis remains illegal in the UK, carrying a maximum prison sentence of five years for possession. In the year leading up to March 2024, police recorded over 90,405 cannabis-related offences.  

 

“The judge was well aware that [McLeod] intended to continue to use cannabis,” Judge Khan stated. “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.”  

 

A Home Office spokesperson reaffirmed the government’s position, saying, “We have been clear that we do not agree with this judgment and vigorously contested this case last year. We remain resolute in our commitment to ensuring there are no barriers to deport foreign criminals, as it is in the public interest for these people to be removed swiftly.”

 

Based on a report by Daily Telegraph  2025-02-19

 

 

[beautifulthailand99]

Hopefully his gear is good.