Stockport council, which is footing the £700-a-week nursing home bill, said it had a legal obligation to step in.
Illegal immigrant fraudster who received kidney transplant on NHS uses public money to fight deportation
By James Tozer
11th May 2010
An illegal immigrant and convicted fraudster is fighting deportation to the Middle East because he claims it infringes his human rights as he needs regular dialysis for kidney failure.
And in a move that critics said underlined the chaos of Britain's asylum system under Labour, he is being put up in a nursing home at a cost to the taxpayer of £700-a-week.
Mashal Almansour, 38, who has already had an unsuccessful kidney transplant on the NHS, was jailed for three years after conning banks and building societies out of £800,000 in a sophisticated mortgage scam.
Funded by the taxpayer: Mashal Almansour, 38, at Cale Green Nursing Home, Stockport, fears that if he's deported back to Jordan he'll die within weeks
He used the money to fund an enviable lifestyle, enjoying luxury cars and comfortable homes, but following his conviction he claims to have lost the lot.
Now suffering from kidney failure, he is fighting deportation back to Jordan on the grounds that it would infringe his human rights.
Almansour claims he wouldn't be able to afford three-times-a-week dialysis in his native country and would die within weeks.
His battle to avoid deportation is also likely to be aided by public funds, and his case will add to fears that Labour's pledge to be tough on foreign criminals is not being met.
Shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Gordon Brown warned them that 'if you commit a crime you will be deported', declaring: 'You play by the rules or you face the consequences.'
Last night critics said it was outrageous that a convicted conman with no right to be in Britain could receive so much support.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'This is a huge cost, week on week, and local taxpayers are forking out for it.
'Many local authorities' budgets are stretched right now.
'Members of the public will be angry that Mr Almansour is in this country illegally, benefiting from taxpayer-funded care, despite the fact that he has ripped off taxpayers with his criminal behaviour.'
Almansour came to Britain 14 years ago and applied for citizenship. But he withdrew his application and has lived here illegally ever since.
He worked as a delivery driver and a takeaway worker before starting his own mortgage firm, using a string of false names to rip off banks and building societies for thousands of pounds.
Jailing him for three years in 2007 at Bradford Crown Court, Judge James Spencer QC called the scam a 'cynical manipulation' and said Almansour was guilty of 'serious criminal dishonesty'.
Home Office officials began deportation proceedings when Almansour - whose marriage to a British woman collapsed following his conviction - was released from jail after 18 months.
Speaking yesterday at his nursing home in Stockport, Almansour said: 'My main concern is that Jordan is not my home.
'I do not have family or friends. Without dialysis, the doctors say I would die within a few weeks.
'If I am sent back it will be a death sentence.'
Almansour also claims he has not lived in Jordan long enough to be eligible for scarce state-funded treatment there.
His friend Carol Wilde added: 'He made a mistake and got greedy. It was a mistake and he paid his time for it.'
The UK Borders Agency said only the most seriously ill illegal immigrants could stay on compassionate grounds.
A spokesman said: 'Before deportation takes place there is a right of appeal to an independent tribunal who will consider whether removal is appropriate.'
Stockport council, which is footing the £700-a-week nursing home bill, said it had a legal obligation to step in.
Last night a spokesman said: 'Under the National Assistance Act the council has a legal duty in certain circumstances, for example an unheard appeal on the grounds of human rights, to assist people who have no recourse to public funds.'
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