Mr EV

Mr EV, a Syrian national, arrived at Heathrow Airport in July 2013. He approached an immigration officer to state that he did not have a passport and to claim asylum.

Mr EV said he was fleeing the Assad regime which would kill him and his family if he did not join the army. He had travelled by car from Syria to Lebanon and then flown to Egypt and on to the UK.

Mr EV was charged with failing to produce a satisfactory immigration document contrary to section 2(1) of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004.

He was advised by solicitors that he did not have a defence against the charge and pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court in July 2013. He was sentenced to four months’ detention in a Young Offenders’ Institution.

In December 2013, Mr EV was granted asylum with five years’ leave to remain. He applied to the CCRC for a review of his conviction in October 2014.

Following review, the CCRC concluded that Mr EV had a statutory defence to the charge on which he was convicted available to him under section 2(4)(c) of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004, namely a “reasonable excuse” for failing to produce a valid immigration document.

The legal advice provided to Mr EV deprived him of that defence. On the evidence available, it was likely that the defence would have succeeded.

Consequently, there was a real possibility the Crown Court would allow Mr EV to vacate his guilty plea and in all the circumstances would not uphold the conviction.

The CCRC referred the conviction in March 2015.

The Crown Court quashed the conviction in May 2015.