Student dumped in Britain by human traffickers wins deportation battle after tens of thousands sign petition

The 18-year-old, who could barely speak English when he arrived, has secured apprenticeship

(Tom Wren / SWNS)

A sixth-form student who was dumped in Britain by human traffickers as a child has won his deportation battle after his teachers and the local community rallied behind him.

Stiven Bregu was abandoned on a street in Keynsham, Somerset, near where the former home secretary Sajid Javid grew up, in the middle of the night with no money or possessions in 2015.

The 18-year-old, who could barely speak English when he arrived in the UK, has since passed his GCSEs and has won a place on an apprenticeship at a wealth management firm in Bristol.

But a week before his A-level exams, the Albanian teenager was told by the Home Office that his application to remain had been refused as his right to stay as an unaccompanied child ended at 18.

More than 90,000 people signed a petition, launched by his head of year at St Mary Redcliffe School in Bristol, to stop the extradition of the bright student.

The teenager appealed the Home Office’s refusal of his application and won the court hearing.

Rob Shaw, head of Year 13 at the school, who also co-ordinated the petition for the student, said: "I am delighted to tell you that he has been successful and has the right to remain in the UK.

"The Home Office now have two weeks to appeal the decision, but assuming that they don't, Stiven will be able to start his apprenticeship.”

Headteacher Elisabeth Gilpin and teacher Rob Shaw with Stiven (Tom Wren / SWNS)

Mr Bregu was trafficked to the UK from Albania in order to escape a violent home life.

He enrolled at St Mary Redcliffe School four years ago, just three miles from where Mr Javid grew up, after he was taken into care by a foster family in Bristol.

He went on to secure his GCSEs and is awaiting his A-level results in biology, maths and chemistry.

On his future plans, Mr Bregu told The Independent: “The only thing that was basically holding me back was the decision from the Home Office. There was nothing else that would stop me pursuing a finance career.

"That just put a lot of pressure on my shoulders. It was stressful.

“The concern is still there but knowing I have everybody behind me makes a big difference.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have received the judgment and are considering it carefully before proceeding.”

Additional reporting by SWNS