A convicted Polish drug dealer has overturned a bid to deport him because he cannot speak Polish and has no family in his birth country.
Nikodem Lopata, 22, of Crewe, Cheshire, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison aged 19 and was told by the Home Office that he would be sent back to his birth country.
But after being released Lopata, who came to Britain aged four, appealed the decision under human rights laws.
He said he could not speak Polish and had no close family or friends living in Poland anymore, meaning he would find ‘re-integrating’ very difficult having lived almost all his life in the UK.
The Polish national was arrested at the age of 16 for possession of cocaine with intent to supply, leading to a community order.
Two years later he was convicted of motor vehicle offences and possession of cannabis, which saw him incur six points on his licence and a fine.
And three months after that he was caught with more than £1,000 of drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine, while carrying a ‘Rambo’-style knife.
At this point, the Secretary of State, then Suella Braverman, decided to pursue deportation.
Nikodem Lopata (pictured), 22, of Crewe, Cheshire, has overturned a bid to deport him because he cannot speak Polish and has no family in his birth country
But judges have now rejected the Government’s argument that he should be forced to leave the UK.
The law states that foreign nationals who have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of 4 years or more ‘must demonstrate there are very compelling circumstances [to overturn deportation].
‘The exception will be met where the person has been lawfully resident in the UK for most of their life, they are socially and culturally integrated in the UK and there would be very significant obstacles to their integration into the country to which it is proposed they be deported.’
Relevant factors when considering whether to deport a convict include ‘the length of time the foreign national has lived in the UK and the strength of their social, cultural and family ties to the UK’ and ‘the nature of any support family in the country of return can provide’.
The Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber in Manchester was told Lopata ‘has an unenviable list of convictions given his young age.’
Reporting at the time of his conviction said he had been stopped by police in January, 2022, and attempted to walk away from the officers to make a phone call.
He was then searched and found with 80 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine, a further seven grams of heroin, a small bag of cannabis, a large knife described by police as ‘Rambo-style’ and £673 in cash.
The estimated street value of the drugs was between £1,040 and £1,340.
Lapota appealed the decision to deport him as well as the refusal of his application for leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme on human rights grounds.
The case was heard in August, 2024, with Lapota and his mother giving evidence.
‘Lapota had spent the majority of his life in the UK, including his formative years and attended school in the UK, and it was accepted that he is likely to have built friendships and ties outside of the family unit,’ Judge Ali said.
A judge concluded that Lapota’s human rights would be breached by the decisions, a ruling the new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (pictured) appealed
‘It was also accepted that he would have little physical family support in Poland given that his mother and uncles are resident in the UK, and he does not appear to have had any contact with his father.’
The judge concluded that Lapota’s human rights would be breached by the decisions, a ruling the new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper appealed.
Ms Cooper argued there needed to be ‘very compelling circumstances’ not to deport foreign criminals sentenced to four years in prison.
‘The First Tier Tribunal Judge [FTTJ] failed to give adequate reasons for his conclusion that there were very significant obstacles to Mr Lopata reintegrating into Poland,’ the Home Office argued.
‘The Secretary of State rejected the finding of the FTT that Mr Lopata does not speak Polish and says that this conclusion was not adequately reasoned.
After his 2022 conviction, the Secretary of State, then Suella Braverman (pictured), decided to pursue deportation
‘The Secretary of State also argues that Mr Lopata could learn Polish within a reasonable period or could get by speaking English, or that his family might travel with him to Poland.’
Andrew Mullen of the Home Office described the finding that Mr Lopata did not speak Polish to be ‘very odd’ and said it was difficult to imagine a ‘much more serious offence’ than one involving Class A drugs.
However, the Upper Tribunal ruled that Judge Ali had carried out a ‘detailed analysis’ of the Pole’s ‘connections to the United Kingdom and level of integration, his lack of connections to Poland and his risk of reoffending and rehabilitation’.
‘The Judge’s finding that there were “very compelling circumstances” was rationally open to him on the facts,’ they said.
‘In our view, the conclusion of the FTTJ that Mr Lopata did not speak Polish was one properly open to him on the facts.
‘The fact that he visited Poland for a week-long holiday when he was nine does not further the Secretary of State’s case in this regard.
‘While the grounds assert that the Secretary of State considers the claim that he does not speak Polish to be “highly dubious”, we note that Mr Lopata has lived in the United Kingdom since the age of four and it is difficult to see how such a conclusion could be challenged.
‘The FTTJ’s conclusion in substance was that a person who had lived in the United Kingdom since the age of four, who does not speak Polish and would have little or no family support in Poland, would face very significant obstacles to reintegration into Poland.
‘In our view this is a conclusion that was adequately reasoned and open to the FTTJ on the facts.’
Upholding the original decision, Deputy Judge Ó Ceallaigh KC ruled that Lopata’s appeal against the Secretary of State’s decision to refuse his human rights claim is allowed.
