Six ‘serious’ criminals refused leave to stay in UK

MORE THAN 2.45 million EU citizens have been told they can live and work in the UK after Brexit, while six “serious or persistent” criminals have been refused.

The number of applications submitted to the EU Settlement Scheme in December has hit more than 2.7 million, with 163,300 received in the last month, according to the Home Office.

Now 2,450,100 have been finalised, leaving a backlog of more than 300,000 still to process as applicants await a decision.

Of those dealt with in December, 55 per cent were granted permanent leave to remain in the country, called settled status, and 44 per cent were granted presettled status – which means they have temporary leave to remain and would need to apply again for permanent permission at a later date.

Overall, six applications have now been rejected on “suitability grounds”, the Home Office report said.

These were denied because the applicants are “serious or persistent criminals” with a history of crimes such as murder, rape and grievous bodily harm. The applicants are said to be already behind bars in the UK or have been deported and are seeking to return.

The Government has vowed to stop dangerous EU criminals coming into the UK by ending freedom of movement, something Leave campaigners had long argued was one of the reasons why Brexit was needed.

The Home Office criteria is seen to be a bid to protect the public and prevent a repeat of cases like that of Latvian Arnis Zalkans, who murdered his wife before moving to the UK in 2007 and going on to kill 14-year-old Alice Gross seven years later.

Slovakian Eduard Peticky was jailed for eight years in 1988 for raping two women in a park then travelled to the UK in 2008 and settled in Rotherham. In 2015, he was convicted of a series of sexual offences including trafficking and engaging in sexual activity with a child.