Dealer’s £100,000 legal bill
Run-down council house with a view sells for £1.44m
A NIGERIAN criminal has left taxpayers with a sixfigure bill after battling against deportation.
Drug dealer Ifeanyi Chukwu Ndidi, 30, launched a six-year series of appeals – funded by legal aid – to attempt to remain in the UK.
Ndidi’s lawyers had argued that sending him back to the country of his birth would violate his “right to respect for private and family life”.
When his appeals failed they took his case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Finally yesterday the court ruled that his rights had not been violated and he will now be kicked out.
Last night critics hit out at the bill for case – at least £100,000.
Ukip MEP Gerard Batten said: “It’s absurd that an order to deport a criminal takes six years and then we depend on the verdict of a foreign court.
“We should have a fast-track method so that we decide who we are going to deport and do it speedily.”
Ndidi was brought to Britain by his mother when he was two years old. A DILAPIDATED home became one of Britain’s most expensive former council houses yesterday when it was sold for £1.44million.
Three-bedroom Sunset House, which sits on Porthmeor Hill in St Ives, Cornwall, overlooks the stunning Porthmeor beach.
The badly run-down property fetched more than four times the average house price in the town, which stands at £339,416.
The garden of the property directly overlooks the seafront with the white sands of the beach almost in touching distance.
Although in need of complete modernisation and redevelopment the sellers, Devon & Cornwall Housing Group, said it was a rare opportunity to purchase a property in such a sought-after location.
Speaking when it went on the market Gary Murphy, partner and auctioneer at Allsop, said: “St Ives has always been a popular destination but the area has become increasingly sought-after. The ‘Poldark effect’ has no doubt helped to attract people to the town having highlighted the charm of the area.
“Perched on the seafront, this property is a rare gem, with potential for modernisation into a beautiful family home, or a complete redevelopment of the site.”