Mr FJ

Mr FJ, a national of Zimbabwe, was arrested after he arrived at Manchester Airport in November 2007 and presented a false passport to immigration authorities. He immediately claimed asylum on the basis that his life was in danger from political persecution if returned to Zimbabwe.

On the advice of solicitors, Mr FJ pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court the same month to an offence under the Identity Cards Act 2006. He received a sentence of eight months’ imprisonment.

In August 2008, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal found that Mr FJ had discharged the burden of proof of having a well-founded fear of persecution. He was subsequently granted asylum.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in July 2014.

Following review, the CCRC concluded that Mr FJ 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, namely a “reasonable excuse” for not producing a genuine immigration document.

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

Consequently, there was a real possibility that the Court of Appeal would set aside Mr FJ’s guilty plea and conclude that in all the circumstances it should not uphold the conviction.

The CCRC referred the conviction in February 2016.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in March 2017.