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Boat race protester Trenton Oldfield wins appeal against deportation
Boat race protester Trenton Oldfield wins appeal against deportation
(about 2 hours later)
Trenton Oldfield, an Australian protester who leapt into the Thames to disrupt the Oxford versus Cambridge boat race, will not be sent back to Australia, an immigration judge has said.
Trenton Oldfield, an Australian protester who leapt into the Thames to disrupt the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race, will not be sent back to Australia, an immigration judge said on Monday.
The 37-year-old halted the 158th annual boat race in April 2012 and was sentenced to six months in prison after he was convicted of "public nuisance".
The decision overturns a ruling by the home secretary, Theresa May, that he should be sent back after he was sentenced to six months in jail for committing a "public nuisance".
He was facing deportation to his home country and being split from his wife and five-month-old baby but his appeal against removal – ordered by the home secretary, Theresa May – was upheld by immigration tribunal judge Kevin Moore in a hearing in central London on Monday.
Oldfield, 37, an academic and publisher, attended the packed immigration tribunal hearing in London with his wife, Deepa Naik, and their five-month-old baby. He said that because of racism in Australia, his wife and child would not go with him if he was deported and that would be "devastating" to their family.
"There is no doubt as to your character and commitment and the value you are to UK society generally," the judge said.
He broke down in tears as he told how he halted the 158th annual boat race in April 2012 out of a feeling of "heartbreak" at the deepening inequality in British society.
"It would appear to me from the evidence and the submissions that have been made on your behalf that it would be my intention to allow your appeal."
"I go round London and see the pockets of deprivation that still exist," he said. "I think I was heartbroken."
Oldfield hugged his wife and supporters and said he was relieved at the ruling, that will be handed down formally within 10 days.
Representing the home secretary, Danny Morley said Oldfield's conduct had been in "utter contempt for the law" and he "abused his right to protest in a very public way".
"We are relieved but very uneasy about everybody here today," he said referring to the 89 other cases being heard at the immigration tribunal.
"He did put himself in danger and others," Morley said. "The whole country saw this and there is a need to be firm against this type of behaviour."
"We would like attention on all the other cases around deportations and look at the criminalisation of protest."
At the end of the hearing, the immigration tribunal judge, Kevin Moore, told Oldfield: "There is no doubt as to your character and commitment and the value you are to UK society generally. It would appear to me from the evidence and the submissions that have been made on your behalf that it would be my intention to allow your appeal."
Earlier, Oldfield broke down in tears as he told how he was acting out of a feeling of "heartbreak" at the deepening inequality in British society.
Oldfield hugged his wife and supporters and said he was relieved at the ruling, which will be handed down formally within 10 days.
He told the judge that he had targeted the race because it symbolised a society wheren many people were deprived of opportunities.
The hearing drew a crowd of supporters from academia and protest movements. 265 Cambridge academics had signed a petition urging the tribunal to overturn the home secretary's decision that Oldfield's application to remain in the UK was "not conducive to the public good".
"I go round London and see the pockets of deprivation that still exist," the academic and anti-deprivation campaigner said. "I think I was heartbroken."
Oldfield told the judge that he had targeted the race because it symbolised a society where many people were deprived of opportunities.
Oldfield's hearing in central London drew a large crowd of supporters from academia and protest movements.
He said his plan to disrupt the annual event crystallised after he returned from seven months in Canada looking after his wife's dying father.
The tribunal heard that 265 Cambridge academics had signed a petition urging the tribunal to overturn the home secretary's decision that Oldfield application to remain in the UK was "not conducive to the public good".
"I was vulnerable in terms of realising how short life can be," he said.
Oldfield's wife, Deepa Naik, 36, and their daughter, both British citizens, were in the court room until the baby's crying disrupted proceedings temporarily.
He continued: "I realised certain people's quality of life was much better than other people's. When I came back to the UK and saw the poverty and saw the laws the government was passing that were going to make people's lives significantly harder … for no apparent reason, I think I was very emotional."
In an emotional and quietly spoken testimony, Oldfield said his plan to disrupt the 158th annual boat race crystallised after he returned from seven months in Canada looking after his wife's the dying father.
He continued: "I saw the Oxford and Cambridge boat race as a symbol of this issue. 70% of the cabinet are Oxbridge graduates."
"I was vulnerable in terms of realising how short life can be,", he said.
The wider target, he said was "elitism and the inequality that arises out of elitism".
He continued: "I realised certain people's quality of life was much better than other people's. When I came back to the UK and saw the poverty and saw the laws the government was passing that were going to make people's' lives significantly harder … for no apparent reason, I think I was very emotional."
He likened the protest to boycotts of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and sporting boycotts targeting apartheid-era South Africa and said "established people" such as David Cameron, John Major and Alan Milburn have all recently spoken out against "entrenched elitism" in the UK.
Collecting himself after talking through his tears, he said: "I saw the Oxford and Cambridge boat race as a symbol of this issue. 70% of the cabinet are Oxbridge graduates."
He had been surprised to be dealt with so harshly by the authorities and had expected "a slap on the wrist" and to be back at home the evening after the action.
The target, he told the tribunal judge was "elitism and the inequality that arises out of elitism".
He told the court: "I have no desire to be involved in similar actions".
He likened the protest to boycotts of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and sporting boycotts targeting apartheid-era South Africa.
"David Cameron, John Major and Alan Milburn have all come out against levels of inequality and what they call entrenched elitism in the United Kingdom, and they are established people," he said.
He told the tribunal the protest was intended as "an injection into a discussion". The judge asked if he had given thought to doing that in a different way. He said he had, through working for "not for profits" and other organisations.
Oldfield, who said he had been in the UK 10 or 11 years when he jumped into the Thames, said his wife and child would not go with him to Australia if he was deported and that would be "devastating almost instantly" to their young family.
He said he was not willing to subject his wife to racial abuse and possibly violence in Australia that he said had been targeted at people of "Hindu origin". He complained of "water-cooler racism" and "passive aggressive racism" in the country.
"I don't think I could put either Deepa or my child through that," he said.
Oldfield said he had been surprised to be dealt with so harshly by the authorities and had expected "a slap on the wrist" and to be back at home the evening after the action in April 2012.
He told the court: "I have no desire to be involved in similar actions. I have a beautiful wife and child … I have had some frank discussions with my wife about our life."
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