Conservative lawmaker Robert Jenrick has called for an investigation into an immigration judge whose ruling allowed a convicted migrant criminal to remain in Britain, despite his record of serious offenses.
Christian Quadjovie, who arrived in the U.K. from France at the age of 10, has amassed 963 days behind bars for offenses including drug dealing and sexual assault. Following his most recent conviction, the Home Office sought to deport him. However, Judge Fiona Beach blocked the order, ruling that he did not pose a sufficient threat to the public to justify removal.
The Sun on Sunday reported that Beach had previously served as a director of Asylum Aid, a charity that provides free legal support to migrants in collaboration with the Bail for Immigration Detainees charity. Her judgment in Quadjovie’s case was later overturned on appeal after government lawyers argued it had been “made against the weight of evidence.”
The revelation of Beach’s past association with a pro-asylum group has prompted questions over judicial impartiality. Jenrick, a former immigration minister, has written to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office demanding to know whether she disclosed her prior role.
“This is the latest example of an immigration judge with open borders views,” he told the newspaper. “The similarity between her decisions and the political views she has broadcast totally undermines confidence in the system. Judges must be independent.”
Beach served on the board of Asylum Aid between 2004 and 2007, stepping down when she was first appointed as a part-time judge. She became a salaried member of the immigration tribunals in 2018. A judiciary spokesman defended the system, saying: “In each case, judges make decisions based on the evidence and arguments presented, and apply the law as it stands.”
Jenrick has pressed further, telling The Telegraph last week: “We have to have a situation where judges who act politically and bring their own personal politics into their job as a judge are held to account and frankly, can be removed.”
His criticism comes as immigration remains at the forefront of political debate. Jenrick, who narrowly lost the Conservative leadership race to current opposition leader Kemi Badenoch, travelled to Northern France last week with his former Home Office colleague Chris Philp. The pair visited migrant camps and recorded videos highlighting the scale of crossings. “I was in Northern France last Saturday to Monday. 1,190 migrants crossed the Channel in that time alone. Is it any surprise, when this is how easy the French make it to break in?” he wrote.
