UK tribunal allows convicted rapist to remain on human rights grounds

An immigration tribunal has ruled that Hendrix Ekwen, a 34-year-old Italian national, has the right to remain in the United Kingdom based on human rights grounds. Ekwen was previously convicted at Newcastle Crown Court for the 2017 rape of a woman who was unconscious and intoxicated.

Ekwen, who arrived in the UK in 2009, had been sentenced to eight years in prison for the attack. During legal proceedings, it was noted that he had spent several years denying responsibility and attempting to blame the victim. However, Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Rebecca Pickering stated that Ekwen had undergone a “slow and gradual process” to accept responsibility and claimed he had “learned his lesson.”

The decision has prompted political criticism, with members of the Conservative Party and Reform UK calling for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights to facilitate the deportation of foreign criminals.