Sunday Mail (UK)

Our Love Has Won

Couple celebrate after appeal triumph

- ■ Lynn McPherson

An elderly couple who faced being torn apart after the wife was refused permission to remain in Scotland have won their legal fight for her to stay.

Cheryl and John Cruickshan­k fled to Forres in Moray from Australia because social workers there wanted to put the devoted couple in separate care homes.

They faced being split up a second time when the Home Office knocked back her UK visa applicatio­n.

But Cheryl, 66, is jubilant after her appeal against the decision was allowed on human rights grounds.

John has had a series of strokes since he returned to Scotland and his health has deteriorat­ed further in recent months.

Cheryl, who is the 82-year- old’s main carer, said: “It’s such a relief that this isn’t hanging over our heads any more.”

John emigrated to Australia in 1964 and has been with Cheryl for more than 20 years.

Problems arose when she entered the UK on a visitor’s visa. She thought she had entered the country on a permanent basis as the wife of John, who was born in Rathven, Banffshire.

She was horrified to be told she would have to return to Australia after six months to make a fresh applicatio­n.

The couple initially dodged Home Office red tape by flying to Cyprus and renewing Cheryl’s visitors’ visa every few months before tying the knot in Paphos in 2015.

But instead of the wedding boosting Cheryl’s case to stay in the UK, officials refused her bid to stay on compassion­ate grounds. She was given a date to leave the country by in December last year but was allowed to stay until her appeal.

In the written ruling following a specialist immigratio­n tribunal in Glasgow earlier this month, the judge said the couple had been left between a “rock and a hard place”.

Judge Kempton added: “There is also the issue of the loss of society for a couple in their twilight years, who are devoted to one another and who rely upon one another for long shared experience­s and love dating back many years.

“Would it not be cruel to separate such a couple, who meant no harm in coming to the UK?

“I consider that the public interest does not require such a draconian step in this case.”

The Home Office has 14 days to apply for permission to appeal the decision to the Upper Tribunal on a point of law. A spokesman said: “The Home Office are currently considerin­g their options.”

Frail grandmothe­r Christina Grant, who is almost blind and has mild dementia, was last week forced to return to Scotland from Australia after visa problems.

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 ??  ?? DEVOTED John and Cheryl are married in Cyprus in 2015
DEVOTED John and Cheryl are married in Cyprus in 2015

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