Daily Mail
February 8, 2014
A judge has described the UK’s borders as ‘a leaking sieve’ after an illegal immigrant drug dealer was deported three times only to return each time to commit more crimes.
Albanian national Baksim Bushati, 37, was sentenced to seven years in prison after he was found to have almost 1kg of cocaine worth £26,875 and £14,000 in cash at his home.
Since 2005, he has been sentenced to prison terms totalling nearly five years for offences of violence, battery and possessing false identification.
Despite being deported from the UK following each jail term, he returned to commit more crimes.
Yesterday, Judge Richard Bray criticised the Government as he sentenced Bushati to his latest prison stretch, saying the UK’s borders ‘leaked like a sieve.’
‘These things make a classic study for people who want to see if the Home Office and the Border Agency are doing their jobs properly,’ the judge told Northampton Crown Court.
‘It just shows how powerless they appear to be. They are hopelessly undermanned and that is what has caused this situation.
‘It is our duty to point this out so the public are aware of it.
‘As I have been saying for the last 10 years, it is a very serious problem which is simply not being dealt with.
‘Our defences to illegal immigrants are leaking like a sieve. I can only hope you will be successfully deported on this occasion.’
For his latest offence, Bushati, from Weedon, Northamptonshire, jumped out of a moving car to try and evade capture on December 17 last year before he was stopped by police dogs.
Jonathan Eley, prosecuting, said Bushati, who admitted possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, was found with £960 cash, Albanian identification documents and two mobile phones.
‘He gave a false address of Charles Street, Northampton, before officers traced him to his real home in Weedon,’ he said.
‘The defendant said his “life was over” and he was “done for” as a result of his arrest.’
Bushati was first jailed in the UK for three-and-a-half years in 2005 before being deported back to Albania on his release from prison.
But he managed to sneak back into Britain and in September 2010 he was sent to prison for 54 weeks for possession of false identification documents.
He was deported again but he just weeks after arriving in Albania he smuggled himself back into Britain.
In January 2013 he was jailed for 16 weeks for battery.
Maxine Crone, defending, said: ‘He got himself into debt with people he was afraid of and it was they who provided him with the drugs, and effectively forced him to sell them.
‘The trouble he’s had means he would prefer to be back in Albania.’