A violent Portuguese drug dealer jailed for five years in the UK cannot be deported because of European Union free movement rules.
Antonio Monteiro was found by an immigration judge to be a “serious threat to the fundamental interests” of British society.
A one-time aspiring professional footballer in Britain, his life went off the rails after he failed to secure a job.
Between 2018 and 2023, he amassed multiple convictions for drug, robbery and weapon possession offences.
In his latest conviction, he was jailed for five years for supplying class A drugs, dangerous driving when he attempted to escape from police, and robbery. The crimes were committed while he was serving a suspended sentence in the community.
The judge said that despite his pledges to mend his ways, there were “serious grounds for believing that he continues to pose that threat”.
He claimed his rights under pre-Brexit freedom of movement rules meant that he should not be returned to his native Portugal on the basis that he had lived in the UK for more than 10 years.
Under Brussels directives, which applied until Brexit, EU nationals who lived in Britain for an extended time could only be deported “on imperative grounds of public security”.
Removal attempts thwarted
Home Office attempts to remove him have now been thwarted as the judge said that despite Monteiro’s threat to the public, “I am unable to find that imperative grounds are made out”.
In his mitigation, Monteiro blamed his offending on being unable to find a job and associating with the “wrong people” when he failed to move into professional football from an academy.
He said that he had every intention of keeping out of trouble on his release from the criminal sentence, but he “was again surrounded by the same people, which made [his] situation a lot harder”.
He claimed that they sought repayment of debts due from before he went to prison. He feared for his own safety and that of his family if he did not become involved with them again.
“I know that I made a really big mistake, but I was desperate and found myself stuck, not knowing what I could do. I was afraid and thought that this was my only option, which I know is not the case,” he told the court in a submission from jail.
“I deeply regret what happened and I am focussed on using my time in prison to build a better path for me once I am released, so I don’t find myself in this situation again.”
The Telegraph revealed last month how a migrant gang member convicted of manslaughter after the murder of an 18-year-old could not be deported because of the same EU rules.
Abdul Hafidah, 18, was murdered in front of rush-hour commuters in Manchester in May 2016. The teenager, a childhood friend of Salman Abedi, the Manchester Arena bomber, was run over by a car and then stabbed in the neck.
The 10 men convicted of the killing included William George, 28, a semi-professional footballer.
George, a Belgian who moved to Britain with his parents at the age of eight, was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter for his part in the assault.
In 2018, he was served with deportation papers, which said he had a “real risk” of reoffending, but Home Office officials lost a six-year legal battle to remove George from the UK, despite his association with Manchester’s notorious AO gang.
