- Salimur Rahman, 31, was jailed in 2010 for mugging a lone woman at night
- When his sentence ended, he was kept in custody ahead of deportation
- But he was 'uncooperative', claiming not to know which country he was from
- The Home Secretary spent three years struggling to deport him, but failed
- London's High Court ruled that by last April, she should have freed Rahman
- He said his human rights were breached as he wasn't freed until September
- The judge agreed, and Rahman now stands to receive a five-figure sum
Salimur Rahman, 31, who mugged a lone woman at night, is set to receive a five-figure sum in damages after a judge ruled he was detained unlawfully (file image)
An asylum seeker who mugged a lone woman may be awarded a five-figure sum after successfully arguing that he was kept behind bars illegally while the Home Office struggled to deport him.
Judge Rhodri Price Lewis QC said Salimur Rahman's own 'lack of cooperation' was a key factor in his continued detention after he finished a 15-month sentence for a violent robbery, as was his claim not to be sure which country he came from originally.
But it didn't stop Rahman successfully claiming compensation on the grounds that by keeping him unlawfully, the British authorities had contravened his human rights.
The amount of damages to be paid to Rahman has yet to be set, but five-figure sums are routinely awarded in such cases.
Judge Lewis backed Rahman’s damages claim against Home Secretary, Theresa May, that he should have been freed from custody by April 2013, when he was not ultimately released until September 2013.
He said that up until April last year, Mrs May had 'acted with reasonable diligence and expedition to effect removal', but that by the end of that month, the Home Secretary 'should have realised that he could not reasonably and lawfully be detained any longer'.
The High Court heard Rahman had initially lodged an asylum claim but gave conflicting accounts about his past, with 'very little known about his true history'.
'He is from the Indian subcontinent but has claimed to be unaware whether he is Bangladeshi, Indian or Pakistani,' said the judge.
'He claimed that he arrived in the UK in about 1995 or 1996, when he would have been about the age of 13, although his actual date of birth is not known, and that he was then found on the street by a Mr Aziz who took him to live with his family.
'He claimed to have little recollection of his childhood and no recollection of how he travelled to the United Kingdom.'
In February 2010, Rahman was jailed for 15 months at Gloucester Crown Court after he was convicted of mugging a lone woman at night.
The judge who jailed him described how Rahman grabbed the terrified woman's clothing as he wrestled her before stealing her property.
Rahman finished his jail sentence in June 2010, but was kept in custody because he was considered 'liable to automatic deportation as a foreign criminal' under the terms of the 2007 UK Borders Act.
Fight: Home Secretary Theresa May struggled to deport Rahman for three years after his jail term finished
His case then hung in limbo for the next three years as the Home Office's attempts to deport him were hampered by Rahman’s uncooperation and uncertainty about his country of origin.
Rahman ultimately withdrew his asylum claim, but repeatedly applied for release on bail on the grounds that his continued detention was unlawful.
A judge who considered his bail application in February 2013 said he could see 'no evidence that he has ever had any right to be in this country'.
However, Judge Lewis ruled that Rahman, who was finally released last September, was entitled to compensation under Article Five of the European Convention on Human Rights, which safeguards the right to liberty.
Rahman was finally released last September after the Home Office allowed his 'temporary admission' to the UK, subject to conditions, but he is said not to have complied with those conditions and to be currently homeless.
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