UK halts deportation of Albanian criminal over son's aversion to chicken nuggets

A UK tribunal ruled it would be “unduly harsh” for a 10-year-old boy to return to Albania with his father due to food sensitivities and sensory issues.

An Albanian criminal whose deportation was halted partly because of his young son’s aversion to foreign chicken nuggets could still be told to leave Britain, a tribunal has found.

The only example listed in court documents was the young boy’s aversion to eating “the type of chicken nuggets that are available abroad”. (Representational Image)

Klevis Disha, 39, entered the UK illegally as an unaccompanied minor. He later gave a fake name and falsely claimed to be born in the former Yugoslavia.

He was stripped of his UK citizenship in 2021 after serving two years in prison when he was caught with £300,000 known to be proceeds of crime. It was later determined that he should forfeit citizenship because it had been “acquired through deception”.

But an immigration tribunal ruled it would be “unduly harsh” for his 10-year-old son, known as ‘C’ in court documents, to return to Albania with his father owing to food sensitivities, sensory issues and difficulties communicating emotions. The only example listed in court documents was the young boy’s aversion to eating “the type of chicken nuggets that are available abroad”.

The court heard while the young boy had no formal diagnosis, education plans were in place to support his “emotional regulation, independence; reading and writing”. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper appealed the judgment in August last year, arguing there was not enough evidence to show Disha’s deportation would be “unduly harsh” on his son.

Upper tribunal judge David Merrigan, who delivered the latest ruling on the case agreed, referring the appeal back to a new judge for further review. “We can only see in the decision a single example of why C could not go to Albania,” Judge Merrigan ruled. “We are not persuaded that the addition of this sole example approaches anywhere near the level of harshness for a reasonable judge to find it to be ‘unduly’ so.”

The case is ongoing. A Home Office spokesperson, who said they did not comment on specific cases, said: “Foreign nationals who commit heinous crimes should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free on Britain’s streets, including removal from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity. “Since the election, we’ve removed 2,580 foreign criminals, a 23% increase on the same period 12 months prior.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told The Daily Telegraph: “This case shows how bogus asylum seekers and foreign criminals are ruthlessly exploiting human rights laws and weak judges to stay in the UK.”

Thousands of migrants working illegally in nail bars, car washes and restaurants have been arrested as part of the Government’s efforts to tighten UK border security. Some 3,930 arrests have been made across 5,424 visits by immigration enforcement officers from July 5, when Labour took power, to January 31.