24/01/2011
In R (Oge Dengbe) v SSJ, heard on 21st January 2011, in the High Court sitting at Leeds, HHJ Kaye QC quashed a decision by the Defendant upgrading the Claimant prisoner to Category C.
R (Oge Dengbe) v SSJ (21 January 2011)
> judgment
In a now familiar factual scenario the Claimant, a foreign national prisoner (“FNP”), had been approved for Category D but that decision was reversed a matter of days later upon receipt of objections from the UK Border Agency, which intended to consider revoking the Claimant’s refugee status. The reasons provided within the form RC1 gave the impression that the Claimant’s deportation status had been the determinative factor, in breach of the guidance offered within PSO 4630.
HHJ Kaye QC concluded: “In short the decision, and the reasons for the decision, have all the appearance of a blanket policy...it does not appear that a proper balancing exercise was done.” There had, as in other cases, been no consideration (at least as evidenced within the decision) of other countervailing factors that might have made it less likely that the Claimant would abscond if transferred to an open prison.
Mr Oge Denbge was represented by Matthew Stanbury of GCN and Emma Burkinshaw of Grayson Willis Bennett .