- Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe says justice system is not adapting to immigration
- A third of crimes in London are committed by foreign offenders
- He added that 80,000 foreign nationals will enter custody suites next year
Concern: Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has
warned that the criminal justice system is not adapting quickly enough
to cope with the impact of immigration
More
than half of all foreign criminals caught in the UK have a right to
stay that prevents them being deported, Britain’s top police officer
said yesterday.
Sir
Bernard Hogan-Howe warned that the criminal justice system is not
adapting quickly enough to cope with the impact of immigration.
A
third of crimes in London are committed by foreign offenders, the Met
chief said. But the majority are EU citizens who may have the freedom to
travel between and live in all member states.
Sir
Bernard said police must do more to stop those banned from Britain
getting in and to kick out those who should no longer be here.
Speaking
at a conference on foreign offenders, he said: ‘Over the course of 12
months, approximately 80,000 foreign nationals will enter our custody
suites.
‘A
large proportion of them – in fact more than half – are from the
European Union and have a right of entry and a right of abode. So any
suggestion of deporting foreign nationals who we arrest is more
complicated than it appears.’
Police
still struggle to obtain fast and accurate information on foreign
suspects that have been arrested. They fear dangerous criminals and
persistent offenders are slipping through the net as a result, he said.
The
Met has been running a pilot scheme to bridge the information gap which
has seen more than 2,000 migrants kicked out, at least 100 of them from
Poland and Romania.
Sir
Bernard said: ‘We cannot accept the risk of a foreign national wanted
or suspected of serious crime, be it rape, robbery or murder, walking
from our custody suite unidentified. The systems, partnerships and
processes that we secure must provide not only accurate information and
intelligence – but must do so at the speed with which we need them.’
Earlier
this year the Government pledged that arrested foreign nationals –
including EU citizens – will face deportation even if they are not
convicted of any crime.
The
crackdown will use a European law that states those wanting to remain
here must be exercising their right to work or be self-sufficient. This
could be used to tackle groups such as the capital’s notorious Park Lane
beggars, a group largely from Eastern European countries such as
Romania.
In
London, border guards have recently removed 44 Polish nationals, 64
Romanians and two Bulgarians, all either suspected offenders or
criminals.
A further 142 EU nationals, or those with EU rights, are being investigated with a view to removing them.
VIOLENT BOSNIAN WAS ALLOWED TO STAY
A
foreign criminal allowed to stay in the UK despite a history of violent
offences brutally assaulted a woman while his deportation case was
being heard.
Sanel
Sahbaz, 31, was cleared of raping his victim who is in her 20s and
cannot be named. But the jury was unaware the Bosnian had admitted a
three-month campaign of terror against her last autumn.
Judge
Marie Catterson adjourned sentence for reports but told Sahbaz: ‘It
must be obvious to you that you can expect nothing but a custodial
sentence.’ Sahbaz had been jailed three times for previous offences and
had faced automatic deportation. But his lawyers successfully argued
last August that his human rights would be violated if he was returned
to Bosnia as he would be separated from his parents, who are also in
Britain – even though he still has an extended family in his homeland.
A
relative of the victim criticised the decision to allow him to remain
in the UK, saying: ‘If he hadn’t been here he wouldn’t have been able to
attack her.’
Sanel Sahbaz, 31, was cleared of
raping his victim who is in her 20s and cannot be named. But the jury
was unaware the Bosnian had admitted a three-month campaign of terror
against her last autumn
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