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Home Office criticised for deportation bungle
THE taxpayer will be picking up the bill for the deportation of an Iranian family who then had to be returned to the UK by officials because they had been given temporary leave to stay.
Leila Mountakhabi, 30, is seeking asylum with her husband and baby son after news of her affair with a local man became public in Iran, where adultery is punishable by death.
The three were granted leave to stay in the UK pending a High Court review just minutes before their flight was due to take off from Heathrow but officials with them did not check the outcome of their hearing.
And when their solicitor called to congratulate them on escaping deportation, he discovered they were already in Tehran.
Ms Mountakhabi, her husband Sourena Jawkar and their 19-month-old son Danoush were then flown directly back to the UK with their six Home Office escorts, who upgraded to first class and left the family in economy.
Having returned to the UK, the three must now make a fresh asylum claim. Their solicitor Mark Taylor said: "This is a miscarriage of justice which shows the Home Office is absolutely not fit for purpose."
A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said: "We are reviewing these events and we will learn any lessons to be learnt. We would not remove any asylum seeker until court proceedings are resolved."
The Home Office refused to disclose the cost to the taxpayer of the nine wasted flight tickets to and from Tehran.
Full story in Saturday's Yorkshire Post.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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