Iraq war veteran's mother wins deportation reprieve

The deportation of an Iraq war veteran's mother was dramatically halted yesterday when the Immigration minister, Liam Byrne, said he would personally review her case.

Mr Byrne's decision to intervene in the case of Joy Bowman was announced at 10.30am, as she awaited the arrival of Immigration Service officers. She had expected them to remove her from her home in Newcastle upon Tyne to a detention centre near Heathrow, ahead of deportation to Jamaica with her 15-year-old daughter, who is studying for GCSEs.

Mrs Bowman, 49, whose case was highlighted yesterday by The Independent, said she still feared deportation to Jamaica. "I feel as if someone has just placed me, standing up, in a big fridge and that when the media has gone they will let me out and send me back," she said. "I can only trust in God that they won't."

Tyneside Community Action for Refugees (TCAR), which took up her case, also fears she will be quietly removed when publicity has abated. Among those to have met such a fate are the Narantsogt family from Mongolia, who were removed from Liverpool two years ago after Des Browne, as immigration minister, had ordered a initial reprieve, amid local protests against deportation.

Mrs Bowman's MP, David Clelland, faxed a letter to Mr Byrne nine days ago, arguing that she should stay. Mr Clelland, who is understood to have broached the subject with Mr Byrne in the Westminster lobby last week, feels the contribution of her sons in the Army should count in her favour. Her eldest son, Leven, 28, served in Basra while 24-year-old Damian was used in a poster campaign encouraging ethnic minorities to join up. Their military service entitles them to British citizenship.

But the strongest factor in Mrs Bowman's case to remain is the length of time she has been in the UK - six years - during which she has worked unpaid as a health worker and studied for a health and social care qualification with a view to becoming a nurse. Mrs Bowman's daughter, Chena, has spent almost half of her life in Britain.

"I am pleased the minister has intervened but it is only a temporary respite," Mr Clelland, the Labour MP for Tyne Bridge, said yesterday. "It may be that he comes to the same conclusion but she has a strong case. It is reasonable to argue that her son's fighting in Iraq should be taken into account."

Mrs Bowman moved to the Benwell area of Newcastle six years ago with her children after her abusive husband threatened to kill her and she fears he will seek her out if she goes back. News of the reprieve was broken to her by her solicitor, who was seeking an injunction to stay the deportation. "I just wanted to get it over and done with and move on with my life," she said. "I have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday... it just goes on and on. In one way I am relieved but in another way it is just another torture. I feel a lot of emotions and among them is embarrassment, that my sons see all this fuss about me. "

More evidence emerged yesterday of the role Mrs Bowman has played in Newcastle life. Christine Lopez, the voluntary services manager for St Nicholas Hospital, Gosforth, where she has worked in the children's hearing clinic, sent a character reference to the immigration services: "Joy has been an extremely reliable, conscientious and committed volunteer in our department since May 2002."

Mrs Bowman also encouraged Leven to continue in the Army during the dark days of 2003 when he and his platoon were under daily siege in Basra. "His mum was the first line of support and her letters and parcels kept him going," Leven Bowman's partner Stacey Dovey, 20, said yesterday. The couple live in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, where he is a bus driver. Damian is now a lorry driver.

News of Mrs Bowman's reprieve brought relief to TCAR, which have just seen a local Turkish Kurd couple and their children removed to Yarl's Wood detention centre, near Heathrow. The family fears retribution in Turkey because of their support for the Hadep Kurdish political group. A TCAR spokesman, Matthew Holborrow, said: "There is still the danger that the Home Office will wait a few days for the controversy to subside and then issue new removal instructions."