AC (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: Immigration Detention Challenge Following Sexual Assault Conviction
The case of The Queen (on the application of AC (Algeria)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department centres on an Algerian national, referred to as AC, who entered the United Kingdom unlawfully in 2013 after claiming asylum in Switzerland. AC's criminal history in the UK includes a serious sexual offence committed on 6 December 2015 in Charminster, where he had been drinking alcohol late at night. He spotted a lone young woman approaching a cash machine, followed her, and touched her bottom. Despite her clear indication that the contact was unwelcome, AC persisted, causing her to run away. He caught up with her, pushed her against a wall, and carried out a serious sexual assault. This incident formed the basis of his conviction on two counts of sexual assault.
On 11 March 2016, AC pleaded guilty to the charges. The following month, in April 2016, he was sentenced to a four-year custodial term in a young offenders' institution. The sentencing judge, HH Judge Johnson, described the offence as 'an appalling attack on a vulnerable young woman on her own at night,' highlighting the gravity of the assault and AC's use of force and intimidation. This conviction marked AC as having committed a particularly serious crime, leading to subsequent immigration consequences under section 72(2) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, which presumes such offenders pose a danger to the community.
- AC entered the UK unlawfully after fleeing Switzerland without awaiting an asylum decision.
- The assault involved stalking, unwanted touching, and a violent escalation against a vulnerable victim.
- Pleading guilty, AC received the maximum consideration for his admission but was still deemed to warrant significant incarceration due to the offence's severity.
Post-conviction, AC's immigration status complicated his situation. On 21 June 2016, while serving his sentence, he was notified of a decision to make a deportation order, prompting him to claim asylum by stating he would be killed if returned to Algeria. Initially, AC provided false information, claiming to be Syrian during interviews in June, October, and November 2016, despite evidence from Swiss records identifying him as Algerian. Further interviews in 2017 and 2018 revealed inconsistencies, including admissions of lying about his nationality and age. In May 2018, AC alleged he had been sexually abused from a young age and held as a captive sex slave for six years in Algeria, raising questions about potential modern slavery. However, discrepancies in his accounts—such as claiming he was sold for sex but not physically restrained—led the Secretary of State to decline referral to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) after interviews in June and July 2018.
AC's asylum claim was refused on 2 October 2018, with the deportation order certified under the 2002 Act's presumptions. His appeal to the First-tier Tribunal was dismissed on 26 November 2018, with the judge noting the offences were 'very serious indeed' and rejecting AC's credibility due to inconsistencies. The judge assessed AC as 'incapable of telling the truth or giving a consistent account,' undermining his risk claims upon return to Algeria.
AC's detention under immigration powers began on 25 December 2017, upon completion of his custodial sentence, and continued pending deportation. Reviews authorised ongoing detention citing high risks of absconding and re-offending, given his criminal history and lack of rehabilitation evidence. Bail was granted in principle, conditional on suitable accommodation, but delays in provision kept him detained. This judicial review, heard on 16 January 2019 before Jeremy Johnson QC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, challenged the detention's legality, asylum processing delays (over two years from June 2016 to October 2018), accommodation issues, and the NRM referral failure. The judgment, dated 6 February 2019 ([2019] EWHC 188 (Admin)), addressed these grounds in the context of AC's sexual offence conviction and immigration proceedings.
Sources: The full judgment is available via vLex United Kingdom, Neutral Citation [2019] EWHC 188 (Admin), Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court). Key quotes from sentencing remarks and tribunal decision underscore the offence's seriousness and AC's unreliability.