Eduard-Gabriel Isai v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The appellant, Mr Eduard-Gabriel Isai, is a Romanian citizen who was born in Spain, moved to Romania at the age of 8, and arrived in the United Kingdom at the age of 12, having lived here since July 2015. He was educated at secondary school in the UK, obtained strong A-level results and went on to study computer science at university, though he was unable to complete his final year. On 8 August 2025 he was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, strangulation, sending threatening communications and harassment, and on 8 October 2025 he was sentenced to 15 months' custody. Because the offending occurred in March 2025, the domestic deportation regime applied and it was accepted that he is a foreign criminal as defined in Part 5A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. He made a human rights claim resisting deportation, relying on his private and family life and in particular on the difficulties he said he would face reintegrating into Romania given his ADHD, anxiety and depression. The Secretary of State refused that claim by a decision dated 13 January 2026, and he appealed to the First-tier Tribunal on human rights grounds. The appeal was heard at Columbus House, Newport, as a hybrid hearing.