Thousands of foreign criminals dodge deportation as police aren’t bothering with basic checks
Damning report claimed some police forces are even being tricked into believing foreign offenders they arrest are BRITISH
THOUSANDS of foreign offenders could be escaping deportation each year because police officers are failing to check their immigration status.
A damning report yesterday claimed some police forces are even being tricked into believing foreign offenders they arrest are BRITISH.
Others are being let off without a check because the police aren’t aware whether nationals from the European Economic Area can be booted out of the country – or because they’re failing to ring the Home Office hotline.
David Bolt, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, said: “Not all foreign nationals arrested by the police are identified as such”
Between 185,000 to 193,000 foreign national offenders were arrested in 2014-2015.
Under Home Office guidelines, the police are supposed to check their immigration status with a central Command and Control unit, to see if they have previous convictions or are “high harm” individuals. The Chief Inspector’s report states that West Midlands were not identifying between 5 to 10 per cent of foreign nationals they arrest.
In West Yorkshire, less than 15 per cent were referred to the Home Office unit for checks.
Mr Bolt said the information was so sparse it wasn’t “possible” to say how many arrested foreign nationals are going unchecked.
The report added that even when one particular offender had been referred to the Home Office he had gone on the run four times – before being re-arrested.
The unnamed individual is currently mounting a judicial review to fight a deportation order after being found to have over-stayed his visa – which ran out in May 2011.
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Mr Bolt said: “The case illustrates the importance of status checks in enabling the Home Office to keep track of foreign national immigration offenders who fail to comply with conditions of temporary release.”
More than 13,000 foreign criminals are still awaiting deportation from the UK, including 6,000 who are living at large in communities across the country.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd last week vowed that Britain would change the rules to kick-out criminals. She said that under Brexit there would be no need to wait for removing rapists and killers.
Under the crackdown, UK courts will be ordered to start treating the thousands of EU convicts living in the UK in the same way as offenders from the rest of the world.
National Police Chiefs’ Lead on Foreign National Offenders Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Rodhouse said: “Police forces are committed to working closely with the Home Office to apprehend foreign nationals who commit crimes in Britain.
“Police officers are able to check the legal immigration status of a suspect by contacting the Home Office Central Command Unit (CCU).
“We will continue to work with the Home Office to improve frontline officers’ access to information and enable them to share it efficiently with the Home Office.
"We are encouraged by current levels of FNO deportation, which are the highest ever with 5,810 in 2015/16.
"We remain dedicated to taking co-ordinated and decisive action to remove those who enter this country to engage in criminal activity.”