Home Office lifts deportation order against Tony Hall, 62, who has lived in Britain for 50 years
The Home Office has revoked the deportation order against Tony Hall, a 62-year-old man who has lived in Britain for 50 years, the Guardian reported. The department wrote to him on Tuesday to say the order had been revoked, following criticism of attempts to remove him to Barbados.
Mr Hall arrived in London aged 12 in 1976, to join his parents and five older sisters. He has not been back to Barbados since. The Home Office's stated basis for deportation was a 2001 conviction for conspiracy to rob, meaning an agreement to carry out a robbery, along with possession of a firearm with intent. He served eight years in prison.
The department tried to deport him to Barbados in January 2010. He was flown back to London on the same plane and arrived the next day, because Barbadian officials appeared unwilling to issue him entry papers.
The Guardian reported on 19 October that for 14 years the deportation order had left him unable to work, rent a home or claim benefits, and that he faced the prospect of homelessness. The same report said UK officials had refused to lift the order, even though it seemed unlikely it could ever be enforced.
Clive Foster, the Windrush commissioner, intervened with the Home Office, urging a compassionate approach to the case. The Home Office has said the timing of the revocation was coincidental.
Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, Mr Hall's lawyer, welcomed the decision. He said, however, that the historical injustice in the case remained unresolved.
