A Nigerian father whose asylum claim was rejected three times has been allowed to stay in Britain after belatedly arguing he is gay.
The man, who has been granted anonymity, first arrived in the UK in 1983 but overstayed and left nine years later.
He returned in 1996 and made several failed asylum bids, including on the basis of political opinion and later through marriage to a Portuguese woman.
He has a son from a relationship with another woman, but claimed he was ‘in denial’ about his sexuality at the time.
The 61-year-old has a conviction for violent disorder and was jailed for four years in 2003. A deportation order was issued in 2006.
But between 2010 and 2013, he said he was in a gay relationship and argued he would face persecution if removed to Nigeria, where his family said he was ‘bringing the family name into ridicule and shame and that they would not hesitate to inform the security services of such practice.’
The Home Office repeatedly rejected his claims, with one immigration judge describing him as not credible and dismissing evidence from witnesses, one of whom said he suspected he was gay ‘because of the amount of time he spent in the bathroom and because he had found gay pornographic material’.
Despite this, he has now been granted the right to remain on human rights grounds.
Immigration judges have now declared: ‘We consider that his account should not be rejected solely because of his immigration history or because he did not rely on his sexual orientation to remain in the UK prior to 2015.’
They found him ‘plausible.’
Upper Tribunal judge Gemma Loughran said: ‘We are satisfied to the lower standard that he is gay.’
She added: ‘The appeal is allowed on Refugee Convention, humanitarian protection and human rights grounds (Articles 3 & 8).’