LONDON — In case that is sending shockwaves through the British legal system, a Jamaican national known only as ‘JR’ was spared deportation from England after a London Court of Appeals ruled that he was at risk of having his human rights abrogated should he be sent back to his home country, reports U.K.’s Daily Mail. JR, who along with another teen, stabbed to death a third young man at school when the young man refused to pay back a £10 debt (about $17 dollars) that was owed them over the sale of some cannabis.
At the time, the murderer was 15 and had only just arrived in England in December, 2000 on a limited visa to spend time with his mother. He remained in the country illegally after the visa expired and the following year committed the horrific crime. In 2002 he was sentenced. Judge Paul Focke told JR at the time, who cannot not be named for legal reasons, “You are a Jamaican national and within months of coming to this country you committed murder. I am of the view that your continued presence in this country will be detrimental to its citizens.” Focke ordered the young man to be deported after having served eight years behind bars.
Lord Justice Kay has come under fire for accepting JR’s sudden announcement that he is gay and faces ostracization and possible death if he were to be returned to Jamaica. She cited his mother’s “compelling” witness testimony as proof enough that JR should remain in the country. That he made no mention of this fact until his first appeal was denied is what has caused so much outrage in the legal, political and LGBT communities.
Peter Bone, Tory MP for Wellingborough, said, “Whether or not this man is sent back should be entirely at the discretion of British courts. The idea that his human rights should have any impact whatever when he has come into this country illegally in the first place to murder someone is absurd. When it comes to murderers, courts should have the absolute right to sentence people for as long as they want, or to send them home immediately after.”
British Home Secretary Theresa May was infuriated. She has worked tirelessly to see the day when JR would finally be thrown out of England for good.
The pair were jailed for life in September 2002 and told to serve a minimum of eight years and two months. But this was reduced on appeal to six years and two months with the deportation recommendation set aside. However, the Secretary of State ordered JR’s deportation in 2009.
JR is currently a free man.
