Ekene Anoliefo v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The appellant, a Nigerian national born in November 1974, came to the United Kingdom in October 2004, aged nearly 30, on a student visa valid until January 2006 and later extended to October 2008. In July 2008 he was arrested and charged with serious sexual offences and has remained in custody since. Following trial he was convicted on 28 May 2009 of a number of counts of assault and breach of the peace and of one count of rape, receiving a twelve-year custodial sentence in June 2009. On appeal to the High Court of Justiciary he succeeded in part on 3 December 2012: the assault and breach of the peace convictions were quashed and he was re-sentenced to nine years on the rape count alone. His challenge had rested on the denial of access to a solicitor before his police interview, and he sought permission to appeal to the Supreme Court on a devolution issue concerning the compatibility of the admission of that interview with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights; the High Court refused that application on 19 December 2012 and no application was made to the Supreme Court. A deportation decision was made against him on 18 December 2012. A panel of the First-tier Tribunal, Judge Reid presiding, refused an adjournment and dismissed his appeal on 11 March 2013. First-tier Tribunal Judge Sharp granted permission to appeal on 28 March 2013.