<h1>"Nigerian rapist can stay"- European Judges</h1>

A Nigerian rapist cannot be deported from Britain because a legal fight to remove him took so long he has developed a “life” here, European judges have ruled.

Akinshipe was 15 when he claimed he was called DMX, after the controversial American rapper who glorified the rape of young girls. 

Akindoyin Akinshipe, 24, was first told he was being deported in 2003 while serving four years for the rape of a 13-year-old girl.

He was 15 at the time and told the girl he was called DMX, after the controversial American rapper who glorified the rape of young girls.

Akinshipe had only been in the country three years when he first faced removal but he has been able to challenge the order through the domestic and European courts for the last eight years.

Since then he has been to university, gained a Master's degree, become a regular churchgoer and found a job.

The European Court of Human Rights yesterday ruled that deporting him now would breach his right to a family and private life, despite accepting that “very serious violent offences can justify expulsion”.

Last night his family told The Daily Telegraph that they were "very pleased" with the court's decision.

The ruling was even based on the fact that he was effectively developed a social and cultural life in the UK rather than a family life because he does not have a wife or children.

It is the latest controversial decision from the Strasbourg court to defy the ruling of UK courts, which had concluded he could be removed.

The move is another blow to David Cameron’s pledge to overhaul human rights laws and deport foreign criminals.

It also comes two months after Theresa May, the Home Security, announced moves to re-examine the definition of right to family life in a bid to stop it being exploited by offenders and terrorists.

Figures last week showed foreign criminals are using the so-called Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in more than half of all successful appeals against deportation.

Dominic Raab, the Tory MP who campaigns for a review of human rights laws, said: 'It is a warped notion of human rights that allows a convicted rapist to claim the right to family life to avoid deportation.”

Akinshipe arrived in the UK aged 13 with his two sisters in 2000 to join their mother, who was working as a nurse.

Two years later he was convicted of the rape of a 13-year-old girl after he and friends had encouraged her via text messages to meet them.

The Old Bailey heard at the time that he was obsessed with the US gangster rapper DMX, who said in one of his songs: “If you got a daughter older than 15 I'm gonna rape her”.

Akinshipe was jailed for four years but the Home Office inadvertently granted him indefinite leave to remain while he was inside after granting his mother the same right.

Once officials realised he had a rape conviction he was told he would be deported – in 2003.

Attempts to prevent deportation were made before immigration tribunals and the Court of Appeal but failed but the case dragged on and ended up before the European Court.

Judges there concluded that while his conviction was a “serious one” other factors that had to be taken in to account included his length of stay in the UK, the time that had elapsed since his offence and the “solidity of social, cultural and family ties” with the UK.

The court said that he has now spent almost half his life here and now works for a local council in London. It also awarded him almost £3,500 in costs.

Speaking from their terraced house in Downham, south east London, his mother, Munisola, a 48 year-old hospital nurse, said: "We are very pleased (with the court ruling).

"It has been a very traumatic experience. But he will need to speak to his solicitor. We just want our privacy."

A UK Border Agency spokeswoman said: “We are extremely disappointed by this judgment and will consider the next steps carefully.

“This government is determined to remove foreign criminals from the UK and does not believe that Article 8, the right to family or private life, should outweigh the need to protect the public from serious criminals.”