Kurdish migrant who snuck into the UK three times and lied about his nationality before being jailed for dealing drugs avoids deportation

Published: 14:43, 8 June 2026 | Updated: 14:46, 8 June 2026 A Kurd who broke into the UK three times whilst lying about his nationality and was jailed for supplying drugs has been given a deportation reprieve. Serwan Jamal Mohammad claimed to be Iranian when he first entered the country twenty years ago but later admitted to being from Iraq. In his nine years in the UK he amassed seven convictions – one of which led to a four–year jail sentence for supplying Class A drugs. After being deported twice he returned twice and has now won his appeal in the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber – meaning that a judicial review will take place. An Upper Tribunal Judge said that the Home Office were wrong in saying that he had no realistic prospect of being subject to torture. Mr Mohammad was born in Halabja in the Kurdistan region of Iraq in 1986. He first came to the UK in November 2006 and claimed asylum using a false identity and claiming to be Iranian. Between 2006 and June 2015 he amassed seven convictions for a variety of offences – including sexual assault, driving whilst uninsured and disqualified, threatening behaviour, and supplying Class A drugs. In his nine years in the UK Serwan Jamal Mohammad amassed seven convictions – one of which led to a four–year jail sentence for supplying Class A drugs The supplying Class A drugs conviction led to a four–year imprisonment. During this period he revealed his true identity and nationality and a deportation order was signed in February 2015. After returning to Iraq in June 2015, he left and arrived back in the UK in March 2016 and claimed asylum on the basis that he was at risk because of his father's death. That claim, and a further appeal, were both dismissed. He voluntarily returned to Iraq in September 2017 but returned, getting to France in 2019, before returning to Kurdistan in 2020. In September 2021 he went to Turkey and married a woman known only as SH. They travelled across Europe but became separated and Mr Mohammad arrived in the UK again in June 2022 when he said he claimed asylum. In March 2023 SH, who remained in mainland Europe, gave birth to their son. The pair remain abroad. In May 2023 the application for judicial review was made and he was released from immigration detention in June 2023. After further hearings, the case has now been heard by an Upper Tribunal Judge. Upper Tribunal Judge Hugo Norton–Taylor granted the application for a judicial review and said that the Home Office must pay 90% of Mr Mohammad's costs. He said that the Home Office made a mistake in concluding that there was no realistic prospect of Mr Mohammad being at risk of being subject to torture or inhumane treatment. However he concluded that the Home Office was correct in saying that he was not at risk of an honour crime. Judge Norton–Taylor said: 'It is undoubtedly the case that in Iraqi protection claims the proposed destination of return is a highly relevant consideration when assessing whether an individual will be at risk of Article 3 ill–treatment. '[Mr Mohammad] would have faced obstacles in establishing that he was in fact undocumented and also unable to become re–documented. '[The Home Office] was rationally entitled to conclude that [Mr Mohammad] had probably had relevant documentation whilst last in KRI in 2021. 'Having said that, it could not rationally be said that it was close to inevitable that the First–tier Tribunal would have regarded such obstacles as insuperable. 'I find that [The Home Office's] conclusion set out in Decision 1 in respect of Issue 1 is irrational. 'It was irrational for her to conclude that there was no realistic prospect of a First–tier Tribunal Judge deciding that [Mr Mohammad] would have been removed via Baghdad as an undocumented returnee and therefore at risk of Article 3 ill–treatment.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.