UK COURT BLOCKS DEPORTATION OF NIGERIAN MAN JAILED FOR FAKE DRIVING LICENCE FRAUD

A British immigration tribunal has rejected an attempt by the Home Office to overturn a decision preventing the deportation of Nigerian national Tunde Lawal Alao, who was jailed over a scheme to produce fake driving licences.

Alao was convicted in June 2022 of conspiracy to defraud in connection with the production of fraudulent driving licences between 2019 and January 2022.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 31 months in prison, alongside a £149 victim surcharge.

Official tribunal records show that he was imprisoned from May 5, 2022 until August 28, 2023.

The Home Office subsequently sought his deportation, triggering a legal battle that ultimately reached the Upper Tribunal's Immigration and Asylum Chamber.

The latest decision was issued on September 1, 2026, following a hearing before Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Priya Solanki.

The Upper Tribunal dismissed the Home Office's challenge to an earlier First-tier Tribunal ruling that had allowed Alao's appeal against deportation.

At the centre of the case was whether Alao's conduct represented a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of British society.

The tribunal acknowledged the seriousness of fraud and the public interest in protecting people from financial crime.

It also considered the government's interest in removing foreign nationals who commit serious offences and preventing abuse of Britain's immigration system.

However, the tribunal upheld the earlier assessment of Alao's present circumstances.

Evidence considered by the courts included an assessment placing his calculated risk of reconviction at six per cent within one year and 12 per cent within two years.

The First-tier Tribunal had considered that risk to be in the low range.

Alao's circumstances following his release also featured prominently in the proceedings.

He has been employed part-time as an office assistant and client coordinator by the same employer since October 2023.

His employer submitted evidence supporting his continued presence in Britain, describing him as a valued employee and arguing that he had become integrated into his workplace and community.

The tribunal also considered that his employment circumstances had changed significantly from the period in which the original offences were committed.

According to the judgment, Alao was unemployed at the time of the offending.

The Home Office challenged the earlier tribunal's assessment, including its treatment of his employment and the risk of future offending.

Judge Solanki, however, concluded that the First-tier Tribunal had adequately considered the evidence before it and had not made a material error of law.

The decision means the Home Office's appeal failed and the earlier ruling in Alao's favour remains in place.

The judgment does not erase or overturn his criminal conviction.

Alao remains convicted of conspiracy to defraud and his 31-month prison sentence remains part of his criminal record.

The immigration proceedings dealt with a separate legal question: whether the requirements for deporting him had been established under the legal framework applicable to his case.

Alao first arrived in the United Kingdom around 2004 or 2005, according to the tribunal.

He later applied for leave to remain under the European Union Settlement Scheme in August 2020 as the non-EU national dependant of his EU-national wife.

He was granted limited leave to remain in February 2021.

The Home Office later pursued deportation following his criminal conviction.

A First-tier Tribunal allowed Alao's appeal in December 2025.

The Home Office then challenged that decision at the Upper Tribunal, arguing that the lower tribunal had made legal errors in its assessment.

Judge Solanki rejected those arguments.

The ruling leaves the First-tier Tribunal's decision preventing Alao's deportation intact, bringing the latest stage of the Home Office's legal challenge to an end.