Ms D

Ms D entered the UK at Heathrow Airport in March 2011 and immediately claimed asylum but did not have a passport with her. She told the UK Border Agency (UKBA) that she had fled Iran in fear of political persecution.

The UKBA did not accept her account and she was refused asylum or humanitarian protection.

A few days later, Ms D pleaded guilty in a Magistrates’ Court to the ‘no passport’ offence. She was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment.

However, in July 2011, after further interviews, she was granted asylum. She has since been given indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

In July 2021 Ms D applied to the CCRC for a review of her conviction.

Although Ms D pleaded guilty at a Magistrates’ Court, against her legal representative’s advice, she explained in her application to the CCRC that she had done so shortly after the UKBA had rejected her account of her departure from Iran and refused her asylum claim.

At that time, she believed magistrates would rely on the UKBA conclusions to find her guilty of the ‘no passport’ offence, and that she would lose any credit for pleading guilty.

The CCRC concluded there was a real possibility that the Crown Court would find that Ms D had a ‘reasonable excuse’ for not having a passport with her when she arrived at Heathrow Airport, and there was a real possibility that her conviction will be quashed.

The CCRC referred the conviction in March 2024.

The Crown Court quashed the conviction in April 2024.