Ms S

Ms S is an Iranian who fled Iran following her treatment by government forces because of her involvement in a political movement and after a close friend was killed during an anti-government demonstration.

She left Iran in June 2012 and travelled by lorry to Turkey where an agent provided her with a passport and arranged a two flight journey which ended at Manchester airport in late June 2012. The agent told her to hide in the airport until she was found by a security guard. When she was found she immediately claimed asylum.

She was arrested and charged with failing to have an immigration document contrary to sections 2(1) and (9) of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004.

On legal advice she pleaded guilty at Trafford Magistrates Court in July 2012 and was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.

In February 2013, the Home Office granted Ms S asylum and leave to remain in the United Kingdom for five years. She was granted indefinite leave to remain in April 2018.

She applied to the CCRC for a review of her conviction in January 2018.

Following review, the CCRC concluded that Ms S 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 valid immigration document.

The legal advice provided to Ms S was likely to have deprived her of that defence. On the evidence available, the defence would probably have succeeded.

Consequently, there was a real possibility the Crown Court would allow Ms S to vacate her guilty plea and find that in all the circumstances it should not uphold the conviction.

The CCRC referred the conviction in July 2019.

The Crown Court quashed the conviction in December 2019.