Judge: I can’t deport Turkish crook – he’s become part of our society by joining a gang
A VIOLENT foreign criminal with a string of convictions was allowed to stay in Britain because a judge ruled his gang membership showed he was ‘socially and culturally integrated’.
Tolga Binbuga, who arrived from Turkey aged nine but never applied for UK citizenship, joined north London’s notorious Get Money Gang.
The 29-year- old has built up a formidable record of offending, including robbery, burglary, assault, criminal damage, shoplifting and drug possession.
But when the Home Office tried to deport Binbuga, his lawyers appealed arguing that he was a ‘ home- grown criminal’. They claimed his affiliation to the GMG, which police say is No2 on their list of Britain’s most dangerous gangs, was evidence of his integration into British society. Binbuga, who received his first conviction as a 15-year- old in 2006, finally received prison sentences in 2013 and 2014. Secretary In September Theresa 2015, May then decided Home his presence in Britain was not ‘conducive to the public good’ and issued a deportation order.
But the following year, at an immigration tribunal, Judge Evan Ruth allowed his appeal.
Judge Ruth declared: ‘It is a sad and unpleasant fact of life that, in various parts of London, gang culture is an accepted and widespread part of life for many young people.
‘In my view … the likely association of Binbuga with this north London gang is a good example of his integration into one of the less savoury aspects of UK life.’
Binbuga had argued that he had lived in Tottenham since he was a boy, that his only family in Turkey was his 73-year-old grandmother and he had no friends there.
He also claimed he felt ‘embarrassed and ashamed’ about his criminal past and was a reformed character. The Sun reported that the controversial ruling was overturned by a Home Office appeal the following year in which judges said Judge Ruth had ‘erred in law’ by claiming that gang memberships showed he was socially integrated.
The ruling added: ‘Cultural integration refers to the acceptance and assumption by the foreign criminal of the culture of the UK, its core values, ideas, customs and social behaviour.
‘This includes the principle of the rule of law. Social and cultural integration in the UK [implies] integration as a law-abiding citizen.’
But he appealed yet again and ran up a six-figure bill, funded by the taxpayer, before the case was finally thrown out last week.
He has not yet left because the legal process has not been completed. Whitehall sources said officials were ‘pulling out all the stops’ to get him out of the country.