Migrant faces deportation for role in New Year sex attacks in Cologne

A NORTH African immigrant is facing deportation from Germany over his role in the New Year sex attacks in Cologne.

The man, named only as Hassan T under German privacy laws, made international headlines in the summer when he emerged from court laughing after he escaped imprisonment over his part in the attacks.

He is being deported from Germany under new laws that make it easier to expel immigrants and asylum seekers who are convicted of sexual assaults and other crimes.

The 28-year-old, who has variously claimed to be from both Morocco and Algeria, was found guilty of being an accessory to the sexual assault of two women and of threatening their male companion.

He avoided time in jail after he was handed a suspended sentence in July and originally walked free, but is currently in detention ahead of being deported.

Angela Merkel’s government introduced the new laws after the New Year attacks, in which police believe as many as 1,200 women were sexually assaulted by mostly migrants between Cologne cathedral and the city’s main station.

Hassan T was found guilty of deliberately separating women from their male companions. The women were then groped and sexually assaulted by a group of men.

Hassan T offered the women’s male companion €5,000 (£4,200) for sex with them, saying: “Three hours of sex. Give us the girls, give us the girls, or we’ll kill you.”