A father made an impassioned plea for justice yesterday after a last-ditch attempt to deport his daughter’s killer ended in failure.
Paul Houston’s 12-year-old daughter Amy was knocked down and left to die trapped under the car driven by illegal immigrant Aso Mohammed Ibrahim.
But the Court of Appeal dismissed an attempt to overturn two earlier decisions allowing Ibrahim, 33, to stay in Britain because of his ‘right to a family life’.
No justice: Paul Houston claims the legal system does not stand up for the average man
As the judges announced their verdict, a clearly distressed Mr Houston shouted across the court: ‘My Lords, what about my right to a family? Amy was my child.’
Later, he told the Daily Mail: ‘I had to say something, even if they didn’t reply. Amy was my world, my only child and she had such a bright future.
‘By allowing him to stay, we are rewarding him for his criminal action. He claims that to be sent home would take away his right to family life. But what about mine? What about Amy’s right to life?’
The failed asylum-seeker served four months in prison but launched legal action to stay in the UK.
He claimed sending him home to Iraq would breach his right to a ‘private and family life’ under the Human Rights Act as he had fathered two children here.
Innocent victim: 12-year-old Amy Houston (left), who was killed by Aso Mohammed Ibrahim in a 2003 hit-and-run accident
The Home Office case that he should be deported went before the judges yesterday, leading to the heart-breaking ruling.
Mr Houston added: ‘They had the opportunity to stand up for hard-working people, the people who pay their taxes and show the world and the country that the Human Rights Act isn’t just about asylum-seekers, criminals and terrorists but the average man.
‘But they let me down and didn’t do that.’
Amy was knocked down by Ibrahim in November 2003 as she walked to buy a music CD near her home in Blackburn.
The Iraqi Kurd fled, leaving Amy crying out in pain under his Rover. Hours later, her parents, now divorced, made the decision to turn off her life-support machine.
At yesterday’s hearing, Lord Justice Sullivan and Lord Justice Gross said there had been ‘fatal flaws’ in the way the case was presented but no ‘error of law’.
They questioned why the Home Office had not acted to deport Ibrahim for six years, giving him time to create a ‘family life’.
The judges added that officials should have argued for permanent deportation because of his crimes. Instead, they asked for his temporary ‘removal’ to Iraq where he could re-apply for UK citizenship.
Loving family: Amy, aged eight, pictured with her father four years before she was killed
Ibrahim arrived in Britain hidden in the back of a lorry in 2001. His application for asylum was refused and an appeal in 2002 failed.
After Amy’s death, he served time after admitting driving while disqualified and failing to stop after an accident.
He has since racked up criminal convictions, including more driving offences and harassment.
Ibrahim also started a relationship with Christina Richardson and they had two children, Harry, four, and Zara, three. Immigration Minister Damian Green said the latest ruling was ‘extremely disappointing’.
He added the issues raised by the ‘tragic case’ could be considered by a commission on human rights law which will be set up later this year.
The outcome will also add to pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron over a pre-election pledge to abolish the Human Rights Act.
Mr Houston said that he may go to the European Court of Human Rights if eligible for legal aid.
He added: ‘Me and my daughter are victims in this. If they can’t protect the innocent and vulnerable people of society, there’s no point in the justice system.’
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