13 deportees arrive from UK Served more than 100 years combined in prison for murder, manslaughter, drugs and robbery

Boris Johnson

BY ARTHUR HALL Editor-at-Large halla@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, December 03, 2020

The Government of the United Kingdom (UK) yesterday ignored calls for clemency and deported 13 Jamaicans who it said had combined jail terms of more than 100 years, including three convicted of murder, another of manslaughter, while others had been sentenced for crimes including drug dealing, burglary and robbery.

The British Government also indicated that at least nine Jamaicans – including one convicted of murder and another convicted of rape – did not board the plane after interventions by their legal teams. The last-minute reprieves were said to be granted after the British Home Office admitted they may be victims of modern-day slavery.

“Obviously it is disappointing that late legal tactics stopped us removing a number of other criminals on this flight,” a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quoted as saying. “We have been clear that we are determined to remove serious foreign criminals who have committed offences in the UK, and we obviously make no apologies for that.”