African drug dealer can't be deported as he's 'not security risk'

AN African drug dealer has avoided deportation after a judge ruled he does not "currently" pose an "actual risk to public security".

- By Michael Knowles Home Affairs Editor

Stephan Gomes, from Cape Verde, convinced judges he should be allowed to stay in the UK due to his Portuguese father.

Gomes, who arrived in 1998, was found with more than £26,000 worth of drugs when he was arrested.

He had a "leading" role in a network known as the "Justin Line", selling cocaine and heroin in Portsmouth.

He was jailed for eight and a half years in November 2020.

In April 2022, then home secretary Dame Priti Patel issued Gomes with a deportation order. But he successfully appealed in February 2023.