It turned out that the immigrant gang member convicted of killing an 18-year-old teenager could not be deported due to European Union rules.
Abdul Hafidah, 18, was killed in front of commuters during rush hour in Manchester in May 2016. The teenager, a childhood friend of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, was run over by a car and then stabbed in the neck.
Among the 10 people convicted of murder was semi-professional football player William George (28).
George, a Belgian who moved to England with his family when he was eight, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for manslaughter for his role in the attack. In 2018, he was served with deportation papers stating that he posed a “real risk” of re-offending.
Home Office officials have lost a six-year legal battle to remove George from England despite his links to Manchester’s notorious AO gang.
According to the Brussels directives, which were valid until Brexit, EU citizens living in Britain for a long time could only be deported “on grounds where public security is mandatory”.
Court documents published this week showed judges concluded George, who committed his criminal offense before the UK left the EU, did not meet the strict criteria for removal.
Having rejected the Home Office’s appeal against the immigration court’s earlier decision annulling his deportation, the Court of Appeal ruled that the threshold had not been met.
Judge Nicholas Underhill said George had the “highest level of protection against deportation” as a European Economic Area (EEA) national and that there was no “clear misrepresentation of the law”.
Hafidah, a member of the Rusholme Crips gang, was captured after entering rival territory in Manchester’s Moss Side.
George was said to have played a pivotal role in the sentencing hearing by confronting Hafidah and allowing the others to catch up. The attackers beat the young man, threw a hammer at him and hit him with a car, causing his death by taking a knife from his neck.
Seven men were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Three other people, including George, were sentenced to manslaughter.
‘Deep education about the dangers of violence’
An immigration court, which rejected the Home Office’s deportation bid in 2023, ruled that George had expressed remorse and “did not intend to engage in any future criminality”.
Judge Bruce, based in Manchester, said: “William George was a promising footballer. He had left home almost two years before the offense, earning a semi-professional contract at Morecambe FC and a scholarship to Lancaster College.
“He had GSCEs, went straight from school to Morecambe, had no criminal convictions and was working a part-time job in a restaurant. He also worked as a children’s football coach.
“He had a good relationship with his parents, who provided him with a stable and supportive home in every respect. That was his life until that afternoon in May 2016. His involvement in the murder of Mr. Hafidah changed all that.
“He has spent almost all of the last seven years in prison and was only recently released on licence. He currently lives in a bail hostel some distance away from his family. He has no job and is not currently studying.
“He received extreme and profound education about the dangers of violence. “I believe him when he says he has no intention of being involved in any crime in the future.”
‘He was punished for this behavior’
The Ministry of Internal Affairs challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal; where three judges found that the immigration court acted lawfully.
Lord Justice Underhill concluded: “Nothing in our judgment implies that we accept anything other than the most serious view of Mr George’s conduct. However, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for this behavior.
“The question in this case is whether, in addition to this sentence, he will be deported to Belgium, where he has not lived since the age of eight.
“The rule under the regulations is that it does not depend on the seriousness of the offense but whether it poses a sufficiently serious risk to public safety in the future.
“After carefully weighing all the evidence, the judge found that it was not. “I must say that I find his reasoning convincing, but in any case it contains no legal errors.”
‘We are determined to ensure justice’
Following Brexit, the Government no longer follows EEA regulations. Non-British criminals will be liable for deportation if sentenced to 12 months or more in prison.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are determined to deliver justice for victims and deliver safer streets for our communities. “Foreign nationals who commit crimes should have no doubt that the law will be enforced and that we will pursue their deportation when necessary.”
EEA regulations, which the UK adopted from the 2004 EU directive, previously allowed the murderer of school headmaster Philip Lawrence to remain in the UK.
Learco Chindamo was 15 when he stabbed Mr Lawrence to death outside his school in north London in 1995. In 2007, Italian national Chindamo won an appeal against deportation on the grounds that he was from an EU country and was already living in the UK. For 10 years until 1995.