A convicted rapist who claimed he should be allowed to remain in Britain because he is bisexual has lost his latest legal challenge against deportation.
Karam Majdi, 27, was sentenced to seven years in custody after raping a 14-year-old girl he had met online.
An immigration tribunal has now rejected his appeal, concluding that his removal from the UK “was and remains in the public interest”.
Majdi had argued that returning him to Egypt would expose him to persecution because of his alleged bisexuality.
However, Judge R Abdar found that he had failed to establish the claim and concluded that he remained a danger to the community.
“I am satisfied that the appellant has failed to rebut the presumption of the appellant posing a danger to the community,” the judge said, adding: “I am not satisfied that the appellant is bisexual.”
The tribunal also rejected Majdi’s claim that he was Syrian, while questioning the evidence he provided about relationships with men.
The case dates back to 2017, when Majdi was living in a hostel in Hove before travelling to East Croydon, where he attacked the schoolgirl.
During his criminal trial, the court heard that he pinned the teenager down despite her protests.
The victim was left with severe bruising to her thighs, with Majdi held in a youth offender institution and released in 2021 after serving part of his sentence.
He has continued to contest his removal from Britain, claiming that he arrived in the country as an unaccompanied child after allegedly fleeing fighting in Aleppo.
He claimed his identity documents were lost during his journey to the UK by small boat in 2016 and at his latest immigration hearing, the Home Office challenged his account of both his nationality and sexuality.
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George Mavrantonis, representing the Home Office, told the tribunal that Majdi’s bisexuality claim had emerged in 2021 and amounted to an attempt to strengthen his asylum case.
The tribunal heard that an earlier professional assessment had led the Government to accept that Majdi was bisexual.
The Home Office later acknowledged that this had been an error and successfully asked for the concession to be withdrawn.
Majdi claimed to have had relationships with two men, but was unable to provide supporting evidence – attributing the absence of photographs or messages to losing his phone SIM card.
The tribunal also heard that he had committed further offences since his release from prison.
In April, he was convicted and fined for cocaine possession, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.
He is also due to appear in court next June over an allegation that he possessed a personal quantity of cannabis.
Majdi represented himself during parts of the hearing after declining to use an interpreter requested by his solicitor.
The tribunal also rejected an application to keep his identity anonymous, following an argument by the Home Office that naming him was justified by the principle of open justice.
A Home Office spokesman said the department would continue efforts to remove Majdi from the UK.
They said: “We will do everything in our power to deport this dangerous criminal and will continue to resist all appeals against his deportation.”
The department said 11,733 foreign criminals, including murderers and rapists, had been removed since the last general election, describing the figure as a 41 per cent increase on the final two years of the previous government.
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