A judge on Thursday blocked a British decision to deport a South African former police officer who claims he would face violence from gang members if he returned to his homeland.
Former sergeant David Andreason, who stopped working as a police officer in 2001 due to stress, fled Durban for Britain after an attempt on his life in 2005.
At the High Court in London, his lawyer Amanda Weston argued that the South African Police Service had been infiltrated by criminal gangs to such an extent that Andreason would face serious risks anywhere in South Africa.
”The police — the very organisation which should protect him — poses a risk to him,” she added.
Judge John Mitting said Andreason’s claim that there was a ”strong possibility” that he and his family would face harm by gang members had not been rebutted.
”This is lent some general support by reports about corruption within the South African Police Service,” he said.
”[Andreason] claims at all levels in the South African Police Service there are officers who are corrupt and lend assistance to the gangs.”
The judge allowed his bid for a judicial review of the Home Office’s rejection of his asylum application, and blocked his removal from the country at present. ‒ Sapa-AFP