Jamaican man jailed for raping wife and sister wins Article 3 appeal against deportation

An Upper Tribunal judge, Joanna McWilliam, has allowed the appeal of a 51-year-old Jamaican man, identified only as 'OB', against deportation, ruling that removing him to Jamaica would breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which bars inhuman or degrading treatment. 1 2 He was jailed for raping his wife and, in a separate case, for historic sexual offences against his sister; the Daily Mail reports a total of 18 years, made up of five years and a 13-year term. 1 The reports differ on details: the Mail says the first sentence was in 2013 and he was placed on the sex offenders' register for life, while the Express says he was first jailed in 2014 for raping his wife twice and sentenced a year later for attacks on his younger sibling. 1 2

He came to the UK legally in 2003, and received a deportation order in 2018; the Express, citing The Sun, says this was in July 2018 while he was in prison, and that he claimed asylum less than two weeks later, saying he was bisexual and at risk in Jamaica. 1 2 The Home Office rejected the claim, citing the seriousness of his offending and calling him a 'danger to the community'. A first-tier tribunal accepted he was bisexual but still ordered deportation; the Upper Tribunal overturned that decision. 1 Judge McWilliam said he would be perceived as gay and was likely to face homophobic harassment and ill-treatment amounting to an Article 3 breach. She noted that prosecutions for homosexuality are now less frequent in Jamaica but that gay people still suffer 'mob violence', and accepted, on the lower standard of proof, that he had been attacked in the past. 2 1

The judge was highly critical of him: she called him an 'unimpressive witness' who exaggerated and embellished his evidence, said 'There is nothing positive to say about the appellant's presence in the UK', described his philanthropic claims as fictional, and found he remains a risk to the public, especially to children and young people. 2 1 She said that, without the Article 3 risk, she would have 'no hesitation' in dismissing his appeal under Article 8 (family life), as deportation would be in the public interest. 1 The Mail adds that he claims to be engaged to a man who was 20 when he first proposed, and that consensual sex between men is criminalised in Jamaica. 1

A Home Office spokesperson said it does not comment on individual cases, but that it is reforming human rights laws to stop them being abused by foreign criminals, including domestic legislation to tighten the application of the ECHR in immigration cases and work with European partners. 1 2