Mr EQ

Mr EQ was convicted in February 2011 of possession of a false document with intent and received a sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in November 2012.

Mr EQ, an Iranian national, was arrested after arriving at Gatwick Airport with a false Lithuanian passport. Mr EQ had stated that he wished to claim asylum on the basis that he was in danger of political persecution if returned to Iran. He later pleaded guilty to an offence under the Identity Cards Act 2006.

Mr EQ’s claim for asylum had initially been refused and a deportation order signed. He later appealed to the First Tier Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber which granted him asylum.

Following review, the CCRC concluded that Mr EQ had a statutory defence to the charge on which he was convicted available to him under section 31 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

The legal advice provided to Mr EQ did not adequately explain the parameters of this defence. On the evidence now available it was probable that the defence would have succeeded and, as a result, there was a real possibility the Court of Appeal would set aside My EQ’s guilty plea and conclude that in all the circumstances it should not uphold the conviction.

The CCRC referred the conviction in December 2014.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in July 2015.