Damages for foreign robber held too long

A judge ruled Aziz Lamari, an Algerian citizen, should have been released last month.

By then it was clear there was no reasonable likelihood of deportation taking place within a reasonable time, and Lamari was suffering from mental illness “driven” by his detention, said the judge.

The Home Secretary was also found guilty of contempt of court because her department failed to release Lamari after it eventually accepted he should no longer be in detention and gave an undertaking to release him into suitable accommodation.

The 22-year-old now joins a growing number of foreign criminals awarded compensation after being held too long under immigration rules pending attempts to deport.

Deputy High Court judge Barry Cotter QC said Lamari was detained after his robbery sentence came to an end in December 2010 and his deportation had been ordered.

By the time the High Court began hearing his case in May he had been held for over 17 months.

The judge said it was not in dispute that he had attempted suicide or serious harm on at least four occasions since April 2011.

Home Office lawyers argued detention before removal was clearly reasonable because of his “remarkable history of absconding and serious offending” and the risk of him re-offending.

In the nine months between July 2009 and April 2010 he was reported to have absconded three times, said Judge Cotter.

He also fled the country, was returned and was then convicted twice for offences of exposure, and later of robbery at Wood Green Crown Court in north London.

The judge said Lamari was “a young man now broken by the experience of custody”.

He said Lamari should have been released from detention, subject to suitable arrangements, by May 23 at the latest and was entitled to damages for the subsequent period of unlawful detention.