Litter pick finds file on asylum seeker's catalogue of crimes

A SERIES of crimes committed by an asylum seeker have been detailed in a bundle of documents found by a litter picker near a park.

- Mieka Smiles

The discarded papers were discovered on a pavement in Middlesbrough during a community effort to clear away rubbish last month.

The files outline a string of offending by Arez Ali, 28, from Iraq, who entered the country illegally. The Home Office has not confirmed what date he arrived in the UK or how he smuggled himself in.

But the Daily Express can reveal Ali was jailed for four years on Monday after pleading guilty to two offences of possession with the intent to supply class A drugs and driving while disqualified with no insurance.

He will serve his time at Durham Prison. The documents state he was refused asylum in October last year, but it is not clear if this is being appealed.

The more than 200 pages of papers seen by the Express say the asylum seeker came to Britain via Germany.

They add that he had arrived here illegally before being placed in Bedford and then moved to Teesside.

The documents state that by June 2021 he was convicted for having a dangerous dog which killed another dog, before being charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply that same month. He was granted legal aid and given full clearance to access the NHS.