JENNI MURRAY: Rapist who changed his mind about our human rights folly

It’s not often that a story in the newspaper makes you scream with shock and anger. But that’s what happened to me when I read in The Mail on Sunday:

‘After five years, 24 court hearings, 20 judges and £85,000 in legal aid, Britain is finally sending the plane mutiny rapist back to Somalia… with a luxury hotel, armed guards and therapy you paid for.’

What? Have we gone completely crazy? This was the story of Yaqub Ahmed, a 34-year-old Somali, convicted of rape in this country, who was ordered deported in 2018 but who responded to British concerns for human rights to stay here for another five years .

He was originally put on a Turkish Airlines flight to Somalia in 2018. However, a dozen passengers rioted and demanded that he not be deported.

As the four-strong Home Office team marched him off the plane, one of the holidaymakers shouted: ‘You’re free, mate.’

I am ashamed to say that if I had been on that plane, I might have shared their view: that deporting a frightened young man, who may be at risk of torture or death in Somalia, would be a cruel violation of his human rights used to be.

But those deceived passengers had no idea of ​​the crime Ahmed had committed, which in my opinion would have made it impossible for him to gain the right to remain in this country.

When it comes to criminals using human rights as a defense in their attempts to live an easy life in Britain, I have been fooled for far too long.

Ahmed came to this country from Somalia in 2003 as a 14-year-old teenager. He was granted refugee status, but just five years later he was in prison. He and three other men lured a young teenage girl to a flat in London where they attacked her.

The judge told him he had ‘no respect for other people’ but was determined to achieve respect for his human rights. It seems he had no shortage of mild-mannered lawyers to support his goals.

In 2015, Theresa May, then Home Secretary, stripped him of his refugee status and issued him with a deportation order. He fought back with a series of hearings that even reached the Court of Appeal.

Six successive home secretaries tried to remove him from Britain – all thwarted by cunning human rights lawyers and sympathetic supporters like those well-meaning airline passengers.

Mary Harper, the BBC World Service’s Africa editor, even appeared as an expert witness, supporting Ahmed’s claim that he would be targeted by terrorists if he were returned.

Why did a BBC editor give evidence about this case? Maybe the BBC doesn’t pay her well enough; I am told she may have been paid £3,000 for her opinion on Ahmed.

In that case, it’s surprising that she doesn’t seem to have done very well. Judges rejected many of her claims, raised questions about her objectivity and said it appeared she had not thoroughly read “important material relating to the appellant’s case.”

That’s £1 million of taxpayers’ money wasted on the legal fees, prison costs and deportation costs of one person smart enough to game the system – and dozens of good lawyers are happy to take advantage of it.

Ahmed was eventually deported, but with a welfare package of mental health care and the opportunity to stay in a luxury hotel – for which many other young people in real need, and with no stain on their character, would be grateful.

A convicted rapist deserves none of this largesse, and I suspect none of the 14,700 foreign criminals removed by the Home Office between January 2019 and March 2023 do either.

A spokesperson said: ‘Returning foreign perpetrators to their countries can pose enormous challenges. Occasionally, support packages are necessary to obtain court permission to proceed with deportation.’

Nonsense! The answer to the question of what to do with a foreign perpetrator is simple. Throw them out!

I am a supporter of the human rights of anyone who is in real danger to get shelter in a place where he or she is safe. I am also committed to the rule of law. If they break that law, they should be deported.

I never thought I’d hear myself saying that human rights laws need to be reassessed, but here I am. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary must take the bull by the horns when it comes to illegal immigration, the horrors of the boats crossing the Channel and the endless debate about Rwanda.

I have no doubt that the European Court of Human Rights is an honorable institution, but Ahmed’s case shows what compliance with the rules requires. Rishi Sunak is right to plan emergency legislation, a new treaty to be passed by Strasbourg if necessary.

I completely agree with the young woman who was Ahmed’s victim. Criticizing our justice system, she said: “He denied his human rights after he did what he did. It wasn’t the human thing to do.

“Why are his human rights being prioritized over mine and people like me?”

Eugenie is right: stop body shaming

Princess Eugenie says she still has ‘problems with eating’, recalling comments made about her plump appearance. I know how she feels.

I wasn’t in the public eye like she was when the “too fat, too thin, you can’t wear that” came thick and fast at me. It was my mother, but no matter where it comes from, the pain lasts forever and it’s time for it to stop.

Why did Dr. No bikini for less than a bathrobe?

There was a surprise at the auction of garments worn by Ursula Andress in the 1962 James Bond film, Dr No.

The famous white bikini sold for less than the rather plain bathrobe she also wore: £87,500 for the dressing gown – twice what was paid for the bikini in 2001.

After seeing that movie at the age of 12, with that strong woman crashing through the waves, I wanted nothing more than to be Ursula Andress in that bikini throughout my teenage years. Still!

The BBC will adapt the final book in Hilary Mantel’s trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s right-hand man.

Of the three books, Hilary told me that she found this, The Mirror And The Light, the most difficult to write because his execution was so difficult to describe.

“Was she a little in love with him?” I asked her. Very quietly she muttered, “I think so.”

Don’t fall for a Venus flytrap

There was a bit of a craze for a Venus flytrap when my two were young. I gave in to the bullying, but take my advice: don’t let your kids be tempted by Snapper in the John Lewis Christmas advert.

Ours lasted about three weeks and never caught a single fly.

M&S says the middle class steals things just as often as the less fortunate. At least the big stores can afford security. I’m worried about the small shops in my area. Thieves wander around, openly filling their bags at the pharmacy or grocery store and then walking out. What should a small retailer do?