Court Overturns Deportation of Man Involved in Violent Incidents

A man threatened his neighbor with a knife, menaced police with a stone, and threw fecal matter at four prison officers. Initially deported by the district court, the Court of Appeal has now overturned the deportation.

On a December evening in 2023, two prison officers were making rounds at a detention center in Gothenburg, checking on inmates and saying goodnight. One inmate threw a brown liquid with fecal clumps, hitting one officer's shirt.

A few weeks later, the 27-year-old man again threw fecal matter at two other prison officers. This time, they used a shield when opening the hatch.

Neighbor Greeted – Threatened with Knife

In March 2024, the man was at his registered address in Värmland when he brandished a kitchen knife at his neighbor and the neighbor's friend. The neighbor had greeted the 27-year-old in the stairwell, which angered him.

A police patrol responded, chasing him with sirens blaring. He picked up a cobblestone and aimed it at the police car, prompting them to drive into him. When they attempted to arrest him, he resisted violently.

Later that year, he kneed a prison officer in the groin and bit another on the finger while detained at Saltvik Prison in Härnösand for other offenses.

Not Seriously Disturbed

In May this year, the 27-year-old was convicted by the Värmland District Court for his crimes. He denied all charges.

The court noted he had undergone several psychiatric evaluations and was never deemed to suffer from a serious disorder, “however, it is noted that his mood is volatile and he has repeatedly used threats and violence to get his way.”

The court saw no obstacle to sentencing him to prison. The sentence was set at one year and eight months.

He has previous entries in the criminal record for, among other things, serious obstruction of justice. Most recently, in February this year, he was convicted of throwing a cup of urine at a prison officer at Kumla Prison, attempting to kick another, and violently resisting two more.

The Värmland District Court also sentenced him to lifetime deportation.

Deportation Overturned

The man is a citizen of Eritrea and a quota refugee. He was granted refugee status because he left the country illegally and did not want to perform military service there.

A refugee can only be deported if they have committed a “particularly serious crime” and it would “pose a serious threat to public order and safety” to allow them to remain in Sweden. The Värmland District Court considered the serious unlawful threat against the neighbor and the neighbor's friend to be a particularly serious crime.

The court wrote:

“With regard to the serious violent crimes that [the 27-year-old] has otherwise committed (...) the district court finds that it would pose a serious threat to public order and safety to allow him to remain in Sweden. His refugee status does not prevent his deportation.”

However, the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden made a different assessment.

“Unlike the district court, the Court of Appeal considers that the serious unlawful threats [the 27-year-old] is convicted of do not constitute particularly serious crimes,” writes the Court of Appeal, overturning the deportation.

The prison sentence is upheld.

The government is working on a proposal for stricter rules regarding deportation due to crime. Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M) estimates that the legal changes will lead to a sixfold increase in the number of deportations due to crime.