A serial burglar seeking to avoid a fifth deportation has been granted anonymity after claiming an Albanian crime gang poses a threat to his life—despite later posting a video appearing to show him inside court.
The man has been convicted of several offences in the UK and deported by the Home Office on four occasions, only to return to Britain illegally each time.
He is now appealing against his latest deportation order and has applied for asylum, arguing that he could face serious danger if sent back to Albania.
At a hearing last week at the Taylor House Immigration Tribunal Centre in central London, the Albanian said he had come to the UK because his enemies could track him down “too easily” in other parts of Europe.
The man, who is in his 30s and has a child in Britain with an estranged partner, also told the tribunal that previous media coverage of his case had harmed his mental health.
However, on the day of the hearing, he uploaded a video to social media that appeared to show him sitting in a waiting area at the tribunal. The court’s name was included in the caption.
The footage not only appeared to disclose his location, but may also have breached the ban on photography and filming inside court buildings. Anyone who breaks those rules can be prosecuted for contempt of court and could face up to two years in prison.
The man appeared for a hearing at Taylor House Immigration Tribunal Centre in central London, where he took this image of himself in the waiting area before posting it on social media
His representative, Eric Fripp, told the tribunal that the man should remain anonymous because he was pursuing an asylum claim on protection grounds.
Judge Ravinder Bagral granted the request. The Press was not given the opportunity to oppose the anonymity order during the hearing, although Our News Outlet has since applied for it to be lifted.
A court representative confirmed after the September 15 hearing that the application had been received and was being considered.
Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, criticised the decision to withhold the man’s identity from the public.
“Open justice exists so the public can see how decisions are made in their name.
“Granting anonymity to a career criminal who films himself in court for social media while facing his fifth deportation, over a threat he never reported to police, makes a mockery of that principle. The public deserves better.”
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Khdeeja Khan, representing the Home Office, told the tribunal that the man had carried out a series of burglaries in the UK, including offences committed after each of the four occasions on which he illegally returned following deportation.
She asked him: “Do you accept you have continuously committed serious crimes in the UK involving burglaries? Do you accept continually breaching UK border laws and breaching a deportation order four times?”
The man accepted that his offences were “very serious”, but maintained that he had been “forced” to return to the UK illegally because he feared for his safety.
He told the tribunal that he first came to Britain at the age of 13, before being drawn into a powerful Albanian crime gang that forced him to commit burglaries. When he later tried to leave the gang, he said, both he and his family became targets.
He said that each time he was deported to Albania, he discovered gang members were searching for him and left again within two or three weeks. He initially attempted to establish a life elsewhere in Europe, but claimed the gang eventually found him there as well.
The man said the gang had initially attempted to locate him in the UK, but claimed he had experienced no problems there for more than a year. He told the tribunal he believed the gang had abandoned its search, leaving Britain as the only place where he felt safe.
He told the court: ‘The gang has been in contact in Albania. They kidnapped me and once put a knife to my neck. I was lucky to get away. I tried to stay in Europe, but in Europe it was too easy to find me there, so I had to come here.’
He also told the hearing it was too dangerous to return because his family had become embroiled in an Albanian blood feud, during which his uncle was shot two years ago, but ‘corrupt local police’ had ‘closed the case’.
Ms Khan suggested there was no evidence to support his claims that he was at risk in Albania and noted that he had not reported any threats to police in either Albania or the UK.
He replied: ‘The reason I didn’t report anything in Albania is because the police are corrupt and the gang is very powerful with the police around there.’
Ms Khan also noted the man’s prolific social media use – including regular photos showing him in luxury cars and drinking in nightclubs – and questioned why he would continually draw attention to himself online if he was really in fear of a gang.
In response, he claimed he ‘felt safe’ in the UK, but acknowledged the posts could be viewed anywhere in the world.
The case was adjourned pending Judge Bagral’s ruling.
