Migrant drug dealer granted permission to stay in UK days before admitting sexual assault
Days after a mental-health appeal spared his deportation, Muhammed Izhan pleads guilty to groping two women in Norwich; officials say another deportation bid will follow.
A migrant from Pakistan who had been allowed to remain in the United Kingdom after an immigration tribunal said deportation would harm his mental health admitted sexually assaulting two women in Norwich in broad daylight in June. He pleaded guilty by video link from jail and was fined £200.
Izhan, 22, had previously been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a 'sophisticated' drugs ring in which he dealt Class A and B drugs, and deportation to Pakistan was signed off in May 2024. The immigration tribunal, led by Upper Tribunal Judge Luke Bulpitt, ruled that Izhan could remain in the UK on mental-health grounds, noting a 'star pupil' status and diagnoses including ADHD. The judge said there was a high likelihood of significant deterioration in his mental health and engagement in drug-related behaviour if he were deported. Izhan had come to Britain at age seven in 2010 with his mother and brothers, settling in East Anglia; he was disruptive at times, with a suspension in 2015 and eventual expulsion from school. The ruling also found that he had a right to family life in Britain.
Now officials say a further bid to deport him will be made given the guilty plea, with Izhan from Cringleford, Norfolk, facing removal again. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick told the Sun: Our system is a sick joke on the British people. The only solution is to deport this individual.