A decade to deport fake archbishop ‘is a scandal’
HIGH Court judges have criticised successive governments for allowing a self-proclaimed archbishop to delay extradition by a “scandalous” 10 years with a string of false documents.
Lord Justice Gross said it was “truly alarming” that the case of Gilbert Deya, who is accused of stealing babies in his native Kenya, had been allowed to drag on and ordered the Home Secretary to maintain a “firm grip” on such matters.
Deya, 65, who calls himself the “Archbishop of Peckham” and allegedly sold Aldi olive oil as a “miracle cure” for cancer, was jailed two months ago after producing a forged “order” purporting to be from Kenya’s High Court absolving him of further criminal investigation.
He has been telling loyal followers at Gilbert Deya Ministries, which is said to have a 36,000-strong UK congregation, that the devil is to blame and issuing lengthy instructions and sermons to his pastors by letter.
Deya’s repeated, often dubious, attempts to remain in the UK hit the buffers when his application for a judicial review was dismissed by seemingly exasperated senior judges.
The fake order presented to the High Court, purporting to be from the Kenyan High Court granting a stay of his arrest warrant, proved the last straw and judges ruled he had “no arguable grounds” to seek a judicial review.
Deya has been wanted by authorities in Nairobi since 2004, accused of being involved in a smuggling operation linked to his claim that he can give infertile couples “miracle babies”.
Kenyan police allege Gilbert Deya Ministries is an international babysnatching ring and have accused Deya of stealing five children between May 1999 and December 2004 then trying to pass them off as his own.
The preacher is said to have taken female followers from his UK churches to Kenya after giving them herbs to make them believe they were pregnant before presenting them with a baby.
Deya was arrested in 2006 but had resisted three attempts by successive governments to deport him. Home secretaries Jacqui Smith, Theresa May and Amber Rudd ordered Deya’s extradition in 2008, 2011 and 2016.
In 2009, Deya produced anonymous, unsigned statements purporting to be from prison wardens in Kenya. Two years later, he produced affidavits alleged to be from wardens admitting torturing prisoners, but the Kenyan government said they were forgeries.
Further arguments Deya has used to delay proceedings include claims that he would face the death penalty, that extradition was “incompatible” with his human rights and that he would be punished for his political opinions.
He was remanded in custody at Wandsworth Prison on May 8 when prosecutors raised fears he would skip bail and fail to attend the airport to be handed over to the Kenyan authorities.
Lord Justice Gross said this week that it was “little short of scandalous” that his case had taken so long to resolve. He said it was “essential” that such extradition cases were “firmly gripped” by the Home Secretary.
A Home Office spokesman said arrangements were being made for Deya’s extradition. He said: “The Government has acted to ensure that people challenging extradition are no longer able to abuse the system by endlessly raising last-minute, specious human rights points, which can then be subject to judicial reviews.”
An amendment to the law means that people challenging extradition can no longer make representations to the Home Secretary on human rights grounds, as in Deya’s case, but have to make them through the courts.