Ms G
On 20 March 2012 Ms G pleaded guilty to a single charge of failure to produce an immigration document pursuant to s2(1) and (9) of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004. She was sentenced to 4 months’ imprisonment by the Magistrates’ Court.
Ms G, an Iranian national, arrived in the UK at Heathrow airport on 16 March 2012. Although she had travelled on a genuine passport, she had given this to the agent who facilitated her travel, on the understanding that he needed them to obtain visas for their onward travel to Canada. The agent disappeared in the airport and Ms G had no option other than to claim asylum.
Ms G stated that she was trying to travel to Canada to claim asylum because her life was in danger from political persecution if returned to Iran.
Following her release from prison, Ms G applied for asylum in the UK but the application was refused by the Home Office in June 2012. Her appeals against this decision were unsuccessful.
Ms G was ultimately granted asylum with five years’ leave to remain in August 2013. She was granted indefinite leave to remain in November 2018.
The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in April 2019.
Following review, the CCRC concluded that Ms G had a statutory defence to the charge on which she was convicted available to her under section 2 of the 2004 Act, namely a “reasonable excuse” for failing to produce a passport or immigration document.
On the evidence available, it was likely that this defence would have succeeded but Ms G was not advised of the existence of this defence.
Consequently, there was a real possibility the Crown Court would allow Ms G to vacate her guilty plea and in all the circumstances would not uphold the conviction.
The CCRC referred the conviction in September 2021.
The Crown Court quashed the conviction in February 2022.