Today a chartered flight flew 29 serious foreign criminals to Jamaica. The Home Office's statement is carried below.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
On 6 February, 29 serious foreign criminals were flown to Jamaica on a chartered flight.
The crimes committed by the individuals include murder, rape and serious violence. The total combined sentence of their crimes is over 150 years imprisonment.
The law requires that we seek to deport foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK. This ensures we keep the public safe.
Further lines
The individuals on that were on the flight had committed crimes as serious as rape and murder:
- 4 were convicted of a sex offence, including rape
- 6 were convicted of violence crime, including battery and grievous bodily harm
- 1 was convicted of murder
- 1 was convicted of attempted murder
- 14 were convicted of drug offences, including supplying class A drugs
- 1 was convicted of robbery
- 3 were convicted of firearm and offences weapon offences
- 1 was convicted of dangerous driving
- Some individuals on the flight had more than one conviction
- Individuals on the flight ranged in age from around early 20s to late 50s
- The UK, like many other countries, uses charter flights to return people to their country of origin where they no longer have a right to remain.
- We also return those with no right to be in the UK on scheduled, commercial flights - but this isn’t always an option, especially where the individual may be a foreign national offender.
- None of the people on the flight were British citizens or members of the Windrush generation, who are exempt under section 7 of the Immigration Act 1971