Howard (dec’d) (claimant/respondent) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department (defendant/appellant)
Thursday 5 May 2022
The SSHD appeals the Order of Swift J. of 23 April 2021 by which he granted the claim for judicial review and declared that the SSHD’s decisions of 05 November 2018, 03 December 2018 and 23 May 2019 were unlawful to the extent that they were taken in reliance on the good character guidance generally applicable at the date of the decision.
The Respondent died on 12 November 2019 and was substituted by Maresha Howard Rose pursuant to CPR19.2 and PD19A.
The Respondent was a national of Jamaica, born on 17 December 1956. He entered the UK aged 3 on his mother’s passport and lived in the UK continuously until his death. He was a member of the Windrush generation.
On 05 June 2018 he was convicted of common assault and given a 12 month suspended sentence and a fine. He received 8 convictions for 11 offences between 1974 and 2018 including convictions for theft, possession of drugs and common assault. On 09 July 2018 he submitted an application under the Windrush Scheme for British citizenship. This application was refused and the refusal was maintained on review. The refusal focused on the most recent offence. Following the commencement of proceedings, the original decision was withdrawn and on 23 May 2019 the SSHD made a new decision upholding the original refusal but with greater emphasis on the Applicant’s history of offending. On 16 October 2019 the SSHD granted the application. The Respondent’s daughter applied for and was granted compensation under the Windrush Compensation Scheme.
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