A humiliating disgrace

There have been reports floating around about Imtiaz Hussain – a convicted rapist that was due for deportation to Pakistan – which have been slightly inaccurate.

Before deporting anyone it’s usual practice to have them interviewed by an embassy official of the relevant country in order to get their papers sorted.

In the case of dangerous criminals, like double-rapist Hussain, the practice is for the embassy to send an official to the prison which logically removes the need for guards to bring dangerous killers/rapists etc to an embassy in central London.

But the UK Border Agency (UKBA) screwed up and brought Hussain to the Pakistan High Commission for an interview – further more they sent the crook along with just one guard and didn’t tell the Commission they were coming.

That much has been in the news. Reports have said that Hussain told his guard he needed the toilet and then climbed out of a bog window to escape – but that’s not how it happened.

The Pakistani Consul General told Lobbydog today that the Commission’s ‘on street’ CCTV footage shows the prisoner and UKBA guard approaching the building.

They enter and then not a minute and a half later the prisoner is seen walking out the front door and running off down the street, the UKBA guard no where to be seen.

Obviously the Commission’s own security didn’t stop Hussain, at this point they still hadn’t even been told UKBA had brought the rapist in.

The question is where did the original false story – that he’d escaped through a window – come from.

The real tale was more embarrassing (if that is possible) because it suggests the UKBA guard must have simply turned his back for a second and let Hussain run off.

He’s still on the run now. One MP was pretty spot on when he described it as a “humiliating disgrace” for UKBA.