An Albanian drug dealer who entered Britain illegally has won the right to remain in the country after an immigration judge ruled his relationship with his Portuguese wife would “dwindle away” if he was deported, despite the Home Office successfully overturning the decision on appeal.
Roland Matranxhi, 26, was jailed for four and a half years in June 2023 for his role in a major cannabis operation worth over £1 million across Greater Manchester. The criminal was caught red-handed setting up a cannabis farm in Bolton alongside his brother and an accomplice, with police discovering drugs worth up to £200,000 and £11,000 cash hidden in a shoebox at their Huddersfield home.
The First-tier Tribunal initially blocked his deportation, ruling that forcing his wife’s sister to relocate to Albania would constitute “very compelling circumstances” that outweighed public interest. However, the Upper Tribunal has now overturned this decision, finding the original ruling “patently inadequate” and ordering Matranxhi’s deportation to proceed.
Upper Tribunal Judge Clive Lane delivered a scathing assessment of the original decision, stating: “I have no doubt that Matranxhi’s wife is close to her sister but they are adults and the fact that they choose to live together is not unusual and, frankly, does not lift their circumstances on to a level which can reasonably be described as ‘very compelling.'”
Caught Red-Handed in Million-Pound Operation
Matranxhi entered the UK “clandestinely” in June 2018, according to tribunal documents. Just over two years later, he applied for leave to remain under the European Union Settlement Scheme as the partner of an EEA national, receiving Pre-Settled Status – a temporary immigration status.
His criminal enterprise unravelled when Greater Manchester Police caught him and two associates setting up a cannabis farm at a property on Chorley New Road in Bolton on 13 November 2022, following reports of a burglary. A subsequent raid on their Bradford Road residence in Huddersfield uncovered large bags of cannabis estimated to be worth between £100,000 and £200,000.
Officers also discovered £11,000 in cash concealed in a shoebox and multiple notebooks containing shopping lists related to cannabis cultivation. The gang had already attracted police attention after a property on Hendham Vale was raided on 14 June 2022, where cannabis worth over £1 million was seized.
PC Heather Gore of GMP’s Challenger organised crime team said at the time: “We believe these men had been setting up cannabis farms to make a substantial and illegal profit by supplying it across the North-West over the last 12 months.
Brother and Accomplice Also Jailed
At Manchester Crown Court in June 2023, Matranxhi was convicted of conspiring to produce cannabis, possessing cannabis with intent to supply, and facilitating the acquisition, use, or possession of criminal property. He received a sentence of four years and six months imprisonment.
His brother Klodian Matranxhi, 25, was jailed for four years, whilst their accomplice Dashamir Rexhmati, 22, received a three-year sentence. All three had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cultivate cannabis, production of cannabis, possession with intent to supply cannabis and money laundering.
The gang had attempted to evade detection by changing mobile phone numbers, providing false documentation to landlords and giving false names to police. A phone recovered at one property identified Roland through numerous text messages he had sent explaining how to cultivate cannabis.
Deportation Battle Begins
In July 2023, whilst serving his sentence, Matranxhi was served notice from the Home Office advising him of his liability to deportation. Under UK law, foreign nationals sentenced to imprisonment of 12 months or more face automatic deportation unless they can demonstrate “very compelling circumstances” that outweigh public interest.
Matranxhi responded in February 2024, and in April was notified that the Secretary of State had refused his human rights claim and decided to deport him. He appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, which controversially allowed his appeal based on evidence from his Portuguese partner, identified only as Miss Mareno.
The First-tier judge accepted that Miss Mareno wanted to maintain their “loving relationship” despite his criminal behaviour. The tribunal heard she would not relocate to Albania, citing her close bond with her sister, whom she described as being “like a twin” and with whom she and Matranxhi lived.
‘Relationship Will Dwindle Away’
The original tribunal judge ruled that Miss Mareno’s refusal to move to Albania, where she speaks no Albanian and has no cultural or social integration, would mean their relationship would likely “go cold” and fail.
“It is very likely that, albeit with good intentions, the relationship will dwindle away through no fault of Miss Mareno,” the First-tier judge stated. “The risk of the relationship failing is high, as described by the witnesses, that the circumstances and factors are not only unduly harsh but higher still, hence very compelling circumstances.”
The judge found that whilst Matranxhi could reintegrate into Albania, forcing Miss Mareno to choose between her sister and her husband constituted circumstances compelling enough to prevent deportation. The tribunal heard Miss Mareno is financially settled in the UK with “responsible and professional employment.”
Upper Tribunal Overturns Decision
However, the Home Office successfully appealed the decision at the Upper Tribunal, which found multiple errors in law in the original ruling. Judge Lane criticised the First-tier Tribunal for too readily accepting Miss Mareno’s evidence that she could not relocate.
“Miss Mareno’s unwillingness to part from her adult sister… does not constitute a very compelling circumstance which trumps the public interest in the appellant’s deportation,” Judge Lane ruled. “In short, the facts simply did not justify the outcome reached by the First-tier Tribunal judge.”
The Upper Tribunal found the original judge had given “patently inadequate” reasons for allowing Matranxhi to remain in the UK. The judge emphasised that under immigration law, foreign criminals sentenced to at least four years should be deported unless there are “very compelling circumstances” – a deliberately high bar.
Judge Lane’s ruling stated: “I do not accept that [Matranxhi] has shown the existence of very compelling circumstances which outweigh the strong public interest in his deportation. I set aside the decision of the First-tier Tribunal. I remake the decision dismissing [Matranxhi’s] appeal on human rights grounds.”
Strict Immigration Framework
The case highlights the stringent framework governing deportation of foreign criminals in the UK. Under the UK Borders Act 2007, any foreign national sentenced to 12 months or more faces automatic deportation unless specific exceptions apply.
For those sentenced to four years or more, as in Matranxhi’s case, the law requires demonstrating “very compelling circumstances, over and above” standard exceptions. These might include having lived in the UK most of one’s life with significant integration, or where deportation would be “unduly harsh” on a qualifying partner or child.
Immigration law experts note that the threshold for “unduly harsh” is deliberately elevated. The term denotes something severe or bleak – the antithesis of pleasant or comfortable. Adding the qualifier “unduly” raises this already high standard even further.
Between April 2008 and June 2021, only around one in ten First-tier Tribunal appeals against deportation succeeded on human rights grounds, according to Home Office data. Most of these involved Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, protecting family and private life.
Growing Scrutiny of Deportation Appeals
The case comes amid growing political debate about foreign criminals successfully resisting deportation through human rights appeals. Recent high-profile cases have included an Albanian criminal whose deportation was initially halted partly because his son had food sensitivities and disliked foreign chicken nuggets, though this decision was also overturned on appeal.
Another Albanian national, Ardit Binaj, successfully won the right to remain after sneaking back into the UK following deportation, with a tribunal ruling it would be “unduly harsh” on his wife and son to deport him again. Such cases have prompted calls from some politicians to reform or leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Upper Tribunal’s robust rejection of Matranxhi’s appeal suggests courts are applying increasingly strict scrutiny to claims that deportation would breach human rights. With his appeal dismissed, Matranxhi now faces deportation to Albania once his prison sentence is completed.
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