Foreign killers and rapists escape deportation

At least one terrorist, up to eight killers and rapists, 20 robbers and eight paedophiles were given permission to stay last year without a judge deciding their fate.

Instead, the Home Office accepted that deporting them would be a breach of their human rights.

The figures, revealed following a Freedom of Information request, heap further pressure on the troubled UK Border Agency, after it also emerged the organisation faces a backlog of cases equivalent to the population of Newcastle.

A damning Commons Home Affairs Select Committee report said missing foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers, illegal immigrants and others refusing to leave the country make up more than 275,000 cases which the agency still needs to deal with.

The committee said it did not believe the Government’s aim of cutting the 260,000 student visas issued each year by a quarter would benefit the UK, and called for students to be excluded from the net migration figures instead.

The findings on foreign criminals will cause much embarrassment for the Government, after Home Secretary Theresa May last year announced a crackdown on use of the “right to a family life” defence to avoid deportation.

It was also revealed that there had been a dramatic increase in such cases – from 56 in 2008, 80 the following year, 217 in 2010 and 250 last year.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: “There is no point in wasting taxpayers’ money contesting cases where we were advised we would lose.

“We examined each claim individually but case law based on the old rules meant the courts were highly likely to uphold them. That’s why we changed the rules last month to help us remove criminals who try to use Article 8 to dodge deportation.

“As a result, we believe we will see fewer cases where the Government is likely to lose and therefore fewer uncontested hearings.”

Chris Bryant, the Labour Shadow Immigration Minister, said: “Theresa May has been trying to blame the Human Rights Act for not being able to deport foreign national offenders, but it’s becoming clearer every day that the real problem is her inability to get a grip of her department.”

The Home Office would not name any of the 250 criminals, despite all of them being convicted in an open court. A further 57 foreign criminals who were released in 2006 without being considered for deportation have not yet been traced.