There are over 9,000 foreigners in British jails. So why do we deport just ONE a day?

. . . AND WHY WERE THESE MEN FREED TO REOFFEND?

THERESA MAY’S pledge to clear bursting prisons by kicking out foreign criminals has been exposed as a sham by new figures revealing that just one convict a day is being deported.

At the current rate, it would take decades before those scheduled for removal among the current foreign prisoner population of 9,066 are actually sent home.

According to official figures, just 1,583 have been removed from the UK in the past four years, despite the UK having agreements with about 70 countries to send them home. It makes a mockery of a promise in 2016 by Mrs May, the then Home Secretary, to crack down on the problem.

‘Foreign nationals who commit crimes here should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them,’ she said in response to a Select Committee report about the difficulties clearing the backlog.

But officials are still failing to kick out many of the criminals before they complete their sentences, meaning they are released on to the streets to commit more crimes or simply vanish.

The Government admitted last year t hat i t had l ost t rack of almost 500 overseas nationals who were facing removal from the UK after serving prison sentences for their crimes during the previous two years.

Data obtained under Freedom of Information rules show a total of 494 foreign national offenders ‘absconded’ while they were subject to deportation action from 2014 to the end of March 2016.

The Mail on Sunday last week revealed that Yaqub Ahmed, a Somalian whose deportation was halted after a mutiny among airline passengers, was a convicted gang rapist.

Like Ahmed, many of the foreign prisoners who have escaped deportation have been convicted of violent offences. And many have gone on to commit fresh crimes following their release.

They include Iranian Noureden Mallaky-Soodmand, 41, who was arrested for carrying knives in London but escaped deportation. He is serving a four-year jail term for running amok with a knife, screaming: ‘I am ISIS and my people will cut off your b****, Christians.’

In another case, convicted sex offender Mansor Fatholli, 46, who should have been booted out of Britain, was later caught in a drugs den with bags of cocaine and more than £3,000 in cash.

And Abdi Waise, 28, an illegal i mmigrant f r om Somalia who was served with a deportation order in 2013 after being given eight years for raping a 21-yearold woman, is back behind bars for trying to kidnap and molest four schoolchildren.

The figures also reveal a steep rise in the number of Albanian nationals clogging up British jails. The country has jumped from fifth place to second with 742 criminals, compared to 492 the previous year.

Poland remains top of the list with 822 prisoners, down from 965 in 2016. Ireland is third with 720 inmates, down slightly from 762 in 2016, and Romania is fourth with 644 of its nationals behind bars.

The figures do not relate to foreign offenders who have completed their sentences and are in the process of being deported.

Under current legislation, all offenders from outside the EU jailed for more than 12 months are referred for automatic deportation. In most cases, criminals from the EU can also be deported after two years, or one year if the conviction is for a sex attack.

However, criminals can appeal – placing a huge financial burden on the UK – or in many cases they simply abscond while awaiting deportation.

Glyn Travis, assistant secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: ‘The large number of foreign nationals in our jails adds to the pressure on a creaking system.

‘Prisoners from different cultures and backgrounds have their own requirements and our members strive to help them on a fair and equal basis.

‘ However, given the financial cuts and staff reductions, it is becoming harder and harder to make things work.’

Last night the Ministry of Justice said it had removed nearly 6,000 foreign offenders last year and more than 44,000 since 2010, a figure that includes convicts deported after being released from prison.

A spokesman said: ‘This Government does all it can to deport foreign criminals while they are behind bars or once they are released.’

Some vanish and go on to commit more crimes ‘It adds to the pressure on a creaking system’

Iranian Noureden MallakySoodmand dodged deportation after being found armed with knives because the embassy was closed. He was later jailed for threatening to decapitate a stranger.

Illegal immigrant Abdi Waise was jailed for rape, but not deported because of a Government moratorium on expulsions to Somalia. He was later jailed for trying to kidnap four schoolchildren.

Convicted sex offender Mansor Fatholli was awaiting deportation when he was jailed after being caught in a Teesside drugs den with cocaine and cash. It is not known where he is from.