An Albanian gangster who murdered a police officer is reportedly free to walk the streets in Britain after claiming he’d be killed if he returned back home.
Mafia kingpin Maksim Cela, 53, was detained in the UK just days after serving half of a 25-year life sentence for murder and terrorism offences in Albania.
But he has since been released on bail while awaiting trial, and has spent tens of thousands of pounds fighting deportation, the Sun reports.
Cela is believed to have travelled to the UK from Spain using a fake passport, and has argued that deporting him would be a breach of his Human Rights due to threats on his life in his home country.
He initially tried to claim asylum in the UK, which was rejected at a First tier immigration tribunal.
But a second claim – that his life would be at risk if he returned to Albania – was controversially accepted under Human Rights grounds.
A judge ruled the claims were covered under Article Two and Article Three of the european Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees ‘right to life’ and prohibits ‘torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper appealed against the ruling, which was later found to have been an ‘error of law’.
An Upper Tier Tribunal will now decide whether Cela can remain in the UK during a two-day hearing on March 31.
But even if he loses, he is free to lodge appeals against the verdict which will see him remain in the UK until all possible avenues are exhausted.
A Home Office spokesperson told Metro: ‘We will be challenging this appeal in the Upper Tribunal.
‘Foreign nationals who commit heinous crimes should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free on Britain’s streets, including removal from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity.
‘Since the election we’ve removed 2,925 foreign criminals, a 21% increase on the same period 12 months prior.
The spokesperson also confirmed that an asylum claim made by Cela has been rejected by the Home Office, and that he has not received any government or financial support from the state during his time in the UK.
Cela was a high-ranking member of the ‘Banda e Lushnjes,’ a crime syndicate which terrorised the Albanian city of Lushnje in the late ’90s.
The gang was led by former cop Aldo Bare, who reportedly killed his main rival Artur Daja and cut off his head to show locals he controlled the city.
In April 2000, Cela masterminded the killing of police officer Klenti Bano, who was gunned down by an AK47 outside his home in Lushnje.
The previous month, he was involved in a terror plot to assassinate police chief Sinan Meta with a bomb planted near the Roza Haxhiu Stadium in Lushnje, which was eventually disarmed before it went off.
Cela was jailed for 25 years in 2012 for being a member of a criminal organisation, murder, possession of weapons and ammunition and ‘actions related to terrorism’.
But he was released on license after serving half of his sentence and immediately made plans to travel to the UK.
The convicted terrorist planned to disappear into Britain’s Albanian community on arrival, but was arrested shortly after arriving in the country.
Cela was initially held at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow but he is now at large after being granted bail.
Tory ex-Home Office Minister Kevin Foster was appalled by the decision and said it was ‘yet another example of human rights lunacy in our courts.’
He added: ‘It’s scandalous any judge could think this dangerous terrorist’s ‘rights’ were more important than the right to be safe in this country from dangerous men like him.’
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