AN ALBANIAN drug dealer will dodge deportation after the judge ruled that his crime was not serious enough to deem him a foreign criminal.

Ndue Paluca was jailed in October 2021 for growing and supplying it to an organised drug gang.

But Paluca – who entered the UK “without leave” – will now have his case reviewed after the court found his offence did not cause “serious harm”.

Legally speaking, this is what is needed to qualify as a foreign criminal if you are serving less than a year in .

The judge found that as a “farmer” cultivating the , the Albanian national – who arrived in the UK in 2012 – played a marginal role.

Three years later, he made an asylum claim as he was in a relationship and had two young daughters.

However, he then withdrew the claim because it was made in bad faith, as he was facing threats of deportation at the time.

As a “gardener” growing cannabis for an organised group, he was loosely involved in various sketchy schemes, including car deals, opening bank accounts and obtaining leases.

After being jailed in 2021, the found he could not be automatically deported because his sentence was less than a year.

They sought instead to remove him on the grounds of causing “serious harm” – an argument which has now been dismissed.

Paluca appealed against deportation on grounds which was overridden by a first-tier tribunal judge.

The judge ruled that just because Paluca’s role had been marginal, this did not mean his work hadn’t caused serious harm to others.

The judge said: “Obtaining properties to grow and all of the other illegal activity undertaken to set up the conspiracy on the specific facts of the case and as referenced in the sentencing remarks caused harm. For the above reasons I therefore find that [Paluca] is a foreign criminal.”

However, this initial ruling has now been dismissed by upper tribunal judge, Sarah Grey.

She noted that no drugs had been supplied to the public and there was no evidence Paluca had been involved in other nefarious aspects of the drug dealing.

The case is now being re-considered by the first-tier tribunal.