Stuck in Jamaica after birthday trip

AFTER living in Britain for more than four decades, Leighton Robinson was given a trip to his native Jamaica for his 50th birthday.

The son of migrants from the Windrush generation, the youth worker arrived in Britain when he was seven and had only the faintest memories of the island.

‘The only things I remembered was the taste of the fruits, and how hot it was,’ the grandfather-ofthree said. But instead of a oncein-a-lifetime chance to explore his roots, the 2009 trip turned into a nightmare as he was denied reentry to the country where he had spent most of his life.

Having never taken a foreign holiday, he had never needed a British passport, so travelled under a Jamaican one – and found he had to prove his right to live here.

Despite worried relatives sending paperwork such as school reports and dental records to show he had spent most of his life in Britain, Mr Robinson remained stranded in a one-room bedsit for almost two years. Banned from working in Jamaica or claiming benefits, the asthmatic – who has paid taxes in Britain all his working life – even had to be sent money by his family to buy inhalers.

His sister finally secured his return by instructing specialist lawyers – but not before racking up £26,000 in legal bills, and seeing Mr Robinson evicted from his council flat after running up £4,000 in debt.

He said the blame for the Windrush scandal went to the top of Government. ‘I feel really angry at Theresa May,’ he said. ‘She was Home Secretary when they started putting these changes in – it’s her fault.’

Mr Robinson came to Britain in 1966 to join his father Cecil, a steel fixer, and care worker mother Lydia.

The Home Office said it encouraged Mr Robinson to get in touch for ‘reassurance’.