A CHILD sex offender was reportedly given the right to enter the UK after immigration judges ruled that barring him would be a breach of his human rights.
Jamaican paedophile Oniel Spence, now 43, was convicted of a sexual offence against a 15-year-old girl and spent time behind bars in the US.
Jamaican paedophile Oniel Spence was allowed into the UK under Article 8 Credit: Alamy
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has slammed the decision to allow Oniel Spence entry Credit: PA
The blocked his initial application to come to the UK in order to join his wife and child – who are both British nationals – in 2023, the Daily Mail reports.
The officials ruled his exclusion was “conducive to the public good”.
Spence then launched an appeal at the at the lower tribunal which was approved by immigration judge Jonathan Greer.
His lawyers argued that if Spence was denied entry it would be in breach of his right to “private and family life” under Article 8 of the European Convention on (ECHR).
, who was Home Secretary at the time, appealed to the upper immigration tribunal but judges Madeleine Reeds and Nathan Moxon kept the ruling.
The current Home Secretary then took the case to the .
The decision was overturned and the senior judges described it as “perverse” before ordering Spence to once again appear before the first-tier trial.
He could still win his case in this re-hearing despite his own lawyers suggesting he is “primarily sexually attracted to adults,” which the judges said indicates he has “at least a residual or secondary sexual attraction to children”.
Spence’s previous offence took place in a nightclub in Florida in 2008, he was aged 25 at the time.
He was convicted of “lewd and lascivious conduct with a victim aged under 16”.
He has since told the Home Office: “I started partying with a female and she was underage.
“I can’t take it back, but I have learned from it.
“It was just one night in a bar. I should have just asked questions instead of partying.”
After serving half his three year jail sentence, Spence was deported back to Jamaica.
At the first appeal, judges found he “had been sexually attracted to children and has pursued relationships with children in the past”.
They added that he hadn’t been honest about the nature of his offending and had tried to downplay it.
But as there had been no further offences they couldn’t show he was still pursuing sex with children so his appeal was granted.
His relationship with his current wife, who has always lived in the UK, began when she was a child.
The senior judge Lewis said: “The fact that he is primarily attracted to adults must mean that the first-tier tribunal considered that he has, at least, a residual or secondary sexual attraction to children.”
He slammed the junior tribunal’s decision as “frankly perverse,” granted Ms Mahmood’s appeal and now Spence will face a fresh hearing at first-tier tribunal.
MP has said Spence’s case is an example of the “tyranny of judges”.
He added that this another reason the UK must leave the ECHR “to end the power of the over migration”.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We will do everything in our power to continue contesting this case.
“We strongly believe this individual’s presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good.
“We will not allow foreign criminals to exploit our laws.
“The Home Secretary has been clear that anyone settling in the UK must have a clean criminal record.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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