A foreign driver who was ordered to be deported after mowing down two teenagers is still living in the United Kingdom more than a year after his release from prison.
Hadi Hamid was released from jail in October 2019 after the horrifying hit and run but has still not been sent back to Kuwait after using human rights laws as a defence to avoid deportation.
Hamid ploughed into Luke Mason and Matthew Lockwood, both 18 at the time, outside the Empire in Middlesbrough in a hit-and-run.
Shocking CCTV footage showed the 40-year-old, who is originally from Kuwait, in the Middle East, driving over Luke’s body “like a speed bump”.
He suffered a broken spine, ribs, arms, collar bone, pelvis, a collapsed lung, dislocated elbow and he had stripped from his back and part of his head.
Hamid was sentenced to four years behind bars at Teesside Crown Court in February 2018 and was ordered to be deported.
He was realised from prison in October the following year after serving just half of his sentence but he has still not left the country.
Hamid has appealed the decision, under the European Convention on Human Rights, and currently remains at large in the UK.
Simon Clarke, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland called in a Parliamentary Debate on Monday evening for “root and branch reform” to end the “mockery of justice” of foreign criminals abusing the European Convention on Human Rights to avoid deportation from the UK.
Mr Clarke said: “Luke and his mother Wendy understandably feel massively let down by our human rights laws – and I share their frustration.
“Mr Hamid came to our country claiming refugee status – a status that I am glad to say he was stripped off by the Home Office in March 2019, although he continues to appeal that decision.
“He abused that status shamefully, and his only thanks to the country that took him in has been to cause great harm and distress.
“Mr Hamid is relying on Article 2 and Article 3 of the ECHR to trump deportation claiming he fears for his life or being tortured if he is returned to Kuwait.
“Luke is not entitled to any further information than this, despite being the victim of this double injustice. Kuwait is a stable country and a friend to the United Kingdom.
“I suspect strongly that Mr Hamid knows precisely how to play the system, as we know so many offenders like him do, to take advantage of the provisions of the Human Rights Act.
“In my view, he has forfeited any legitimate right to stay in this country.”
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
