An Albanian man who allegedly gunned down a victim in a café nearly three decades ago has been hiding in Britain , disguised as a refugee.
Sabri Sopoti is accused of carrying out the fatal shooting in Albania in 1999, using a Scorpion sub-machine gun before disappearing from the country and making his way to the UK under an assumed identity.
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According to prosecutors, he gained asylum by posing as a Kosovo war refugee called Zenel Bytyqi, a false persona he maintained for 27 years while living undetected in Britain.
Albanian authorities convicted him in his absence and sentenced him to 24 years in prison.
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Prosecutors allege that the killing was triggered by a telephone call in which Sopoti was urged to “sort out that garbage playing with you and your family”.
His wife subsequently informed investigators that he became noticeably distressed following the conversation and departed their home armed with both a Scorpion sub-machine gun and a pistol.
He then made his way to a café where he fatally shot the victim.
After the killing, Sopoti vanished from Albania entirely, with authorities claiming he crossed into Britain using a fabricated identity as a refugee fleeing the conflict in Kosovo.
He was permitted to remain in the UK and evaded detection for nearly 30 years.
Sopoti was ultimately tracked down through an operation conducted by Interpol Manchester, bringing his decades of anonymity to an end.
He appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where he was ordered to remain in custody ahead of further proceedings.
A full extradition hearing has been set for December, at which a judge will determine whether he should be sent back to Albania to begin his 24-year sentence.
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This comes as another Albanian migrant cannot be deported from Britain despite a slew of convictions for drug-related offences, as his daughter “wets the bed”.
An immigration tribunal ruled that removing him would have an “unduly harsh” impact on his young daughter, though the case is now set to be reconsidered.
Shpresim Koka, 38, successfully appealed against deportation after the First-tier Tribunal concluded his daughter would suffer, after it was found she experienced nightmares and persistent bedwetting.
The tribunal found the child’s condition worsened during periods when her father was imprisoned and the pair were separated.
Evidence presented during the hearing included a social worker’s assessment of the child, citing the requirement for therapeutic intervention to address her emotional and psychological symptoms.
The court found that deporting Koka would bring consequences for the girl, passing a legal threshold considered in immigration appeals regarding the welfare of children.
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