A migrant who raped a teenager was previously jailed for a “sexually motivated attack” but not deported to “protect his right to a family life”. Nigerian national Gift Oladele, 24, was found guilty last week of raping a 19‑year‑old woman in woodland, near Wrexham last September.

North Wales Live revealed that Oladele was previously jailed in December 2022 for two years for falsely imprisoning a woman in Manchester who feared she would be raped in broad daylight. The Home Office ordered his deportation in 2023 but Oladele successfully appealed that order, allowing him to go on to rape a teenager last year.

In the 2022 case, Judge Conrad KC told him he had “inappropriate attitudes towards women with a sense of entitlement”. He said: “There is ample material here for me to find that you are a dangerous offender.” He added: “I regard you, having seen you give evidence, as a young man who is clever, devious and manipulative.”

The Home Office ordered his deportation on January 10, 2023. But Oladele made submissions on the basis it breached his human rights but the Home Office maintained its deportation decision.

Oladele submitted an appeal on June 24, 2023 to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. According to the case notes and judgement from that case, the tribunal ruled in favour of Oladele and said the refusal by the Home Office to revoke the deportation order had been a “breach of the Appellant’s protected rights”. This was under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which covers the right to respect for private and family life.

North Wales Live reports in September last year the predator dragged a 19-year-old woman into woods as she walked home from a night out in Wrexham, before violently raping her. After the terrifying ordeal he told her “this will teach you a lesson not to trust strangers”. He was convicted last Friday (March 13) and told he faces a lengthy prison term.

The Home Office said this was an “absolutely horrific case” and that the defendant had successfully appealed a deportation order after the first offence to remove him from the country. That asylum tribunal heard Oladele was a Nigerian national but had been born in Italy. He arrived in the UK with his mum aged 11 with entry clearance until 2014 but it is understood he then lived illegally in the UK until February 2018.

He then obtained a “residence card” which was due to expire in 2024. On November 21, 2022, the appellant was convicted of false imprisonment for the Manchester attack and in December that year sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Due to his crime his deportation was ordered under the UK Borders Act 2007. The migrant made submissions over his right to a “private life” but the Home Office said this was not sufficiently compelling to outweigh the public interest in deportation.

But Oladele then appealed to the asylum tribunal. He argued that he has family life in the UK with his partner and a private life and that he would face insurmountable obstacles were he to be deported to Nigeria.

A hearing took place on December 15, 2023, in front of Tribunal Judge James A Simpson with Oladele as appellant and the respondent listed as UK Secretary of State for the Home Department, who at that time was James Cleverly. There was no representation from the Home Office but the judge proceeded with the case, saying there had been no application for an adjournment and the court had not given a reason for non-attendance of a representative. The judge said the respondent had set out its position in the decision letter and respondent’s review.

Oladele stated that since he was released he had been “working my butt off”. He said he had refocussed on not taking drugs, rehabilitating himself and working at the same time. He said he had been in a relationship with a woman for two years. His partner from the Congo – who had indefinite leave to remain in the UK – told the court she would not move with him if he was deported to Nigeria.

His mother stated that her son has never been to Nigeria, does not know anyone in the country and that all of her family is in the United Kingdom.

Under the Borders Act, a person is liable to automatic deportation when they meet the statutory definition of “foreign criminal” – which is they are not a British citizen and have been convicted in the UK of an offence where they have received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more.

The Home Office submitted that the appellant is not socially and culturally integrated in the United Kingdom on the basis of the commission of the index offence. They said he had insight into life in Nigeria because he has grown up in a Nigerian family.

The judge said he found the “opposite to be the case” as Oladele had attended school and college in the UK.

He added: “I find that the only thing that distinguishes him from any other resident of Manchester is his precarious immigration status and the fact that he has been found guilty of a serious criminal offence.” He added: “I find that he is socially and culturally integrated.”

The appellant argued that were he to be deported the effect on his girlfriend would be unduly harsh. The judge said neither of these arguments were sufficient exceptions to overrule deportation.

The tribunal then considered if there were “very compelling circumstances” under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights that were sufficient to outweigh the strong public interest in the deportation.

The judge said the offence of false imprisonment is a serious offence and the lengthy custodial sentence is indicative of the seriousness of the offence – as well as the comments made by the sentencing judge.

A letter from a probation officer – dated October 27, 2023, – to the tribunal stated that Oladele had engaged with services and was currently assessed as presenting a low risk of reconviction. They added: “It is respectfully stated at this present time that there are no ongoing concerns in relation to Mr Oladele.”

Judge Simpson said he was required to balance the public interest in continuing the order against the interference with the Appellant’s family and private life rights.

The judge concluded: “Weighing everything, I find that the matter is finely balanced. The offence that the Appellant committed was very serious and I find that there is a strong public interest in deporting and excluding foreign criminals, especially one who has committed a frightening and public assault.

“However I have found that the factors on the Appellant’s side of the balance sheet, in particular the fact that he would be a complete outsider should he relocate to Nigeria with attendant risks, that he has a developed private life having grown up in the United Kingdom and that he has engaged positively in a process of rehabilitation and that this has had the impact of reducing the risk of reoffending, are just sufficiently compelling to outweigh those on the Respondent’s side.”

The judge concluded that the “continuation of the deportation order is not proportionate under Article 8 ECHR.” They said the refusal by the Home Office to revoke the deportation order and to refuse his human rights claim has resulted in a breach of the Appellant’s protected rights.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This is an absolutely horrific case, and our thoughts are with the victim of this heinous criminal. Foreign nationals who commit crimes should be in zero doubt that we will aim to remove them from the UK at the earliest opportunity.

“The Home Secretary has announced sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration, which will make the UK less attractive for illegal migrants and make it easier to remove them.”

Oladele is expected to be sentenced for the rape next month