Mayor convicted of raping woman will be deported after losing appeal

A mayor who repeatedly raped a woman is set to be deported after he lost an appeal.

Aigard Balesvics, the former Mayor of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, was jailed for six and a half years in 2023 for raping a woman twice in her home.

He could be released conditionally in December next year, and his appeal against deportation has now been dismissed by an Upper Tribunal judge.

His victim cried and repeatedly said "no", but the 46-year-old ignored her cries and proceeded to rape her again when she tried to leave, the court was told.

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A judgment said that Balsevics was given a deportation decision in 2023, before he made written representations “amounting to a human rights claim".

The representations claimed there were “very compelling circumstances outweighing the need for his deportation on the basis of his family and private life".

The claim was refused by the Home Office and it was ordered that he should be deported, but a judge found this “unduly harsh".

Shabana Mahmood then appealed to the Upper Tribunal “on the grounds that the judge had failed to apply the correct legal tests".

The Upper Tribunal judge said the claim “falls short of demonstrating very compelling circumstances outweighing the public interest in deportation".

Judge Susan Kebede added: “As such, I find that the appellant's removal to Latvia, pursuant to the deportation order issued against him, would not be disproportionate and would not be in breach of Article 8 [of the Human Rights Act].”

A Home Office spokesman said: "We will do everything in our power to remove foreign criminals from British soil.

"More than 70,000 illegal migrants and foreign national offenders have been returned since this government took office, a 41 per cent increase."

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During his trial in 2022, the court was told how Balsevics and the woman went to her home after stopping at a shop where he bought wine, and she purchased some cigarettes.

He then later pushed her into her bedroom, forcibly undressed her, and raped her despite her asking him to stop and attempting to push him away.

In a police interview, the woman said: "I tried to push him away ... I couldn't get away from him, I tried to escape".

The prosecution, led by Charles Myatt, told the jury: “She says she was not consenting, was clearly indicating she was not consenting and there is no reasonable belief he could have had that she was consenting.

“He says all this was entirely consensual in police interview.”

Mr Myatt told the jury that Balsevics only stopped due to the victim bursting into tears.

The victim told police during her interview that she was “severely scared” throughout the ordeal.

After contacting a friend, two men came with the friend to remove Balsevics from her residence.

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