A failed asylum seeker whose deportation was blocked after cabin crew stopped his repatriation flight from leaving the UK nine years ago has pleaded guilty to the rape of a 15-year-old girl.
Anicet Mayela, 40, could face life in jail after admitting to the rape of the underage girl. The Congolese asylum seeker has been in Britain since 2004 after an “agent” smuggled him out of Africa, where Mayela claimed his life was in danger.
He would become a poster boy for anti-deportation campaigners after he was pictured outside a detention centre in Oxford holding signs which read, “Migrants aren’t criminals” and “stop detention.”
It has emerged that many chances were missed to deport Mayela.
While a deportation flight had been planned to Brazzaville in May 2005, the removal was blocked by cabin crew from Air France, who stopped the flight taking off from Southampton. The crew’s intervention was triggered by claims made by Mayela that his hand had been broken by deportation minders who handcuffed his wrists and taped his legs together.
One month after that action by airline crew, Mayela won leave to remain after lawyers argued that deportation would be against his human rights amid a police investigation into alleged assault by his handlers. Two days after he was released, Mayela joined a campaign where he was photographed protesting with the sign, “Migrants are not criminals.”
Congolese asylum seeker Anicet Mayela, 40, has been in Britain since 2004. Many chances were missed to deport him, not least when an @AirFranceUK cabin crew member stopped his flight home.
He has pleaded guilty to the rape of a 15 year old girl.
He subsequently was seen at… pic.twitter.com/vyNtXxrTNE
— David Atherton (@DaveAtherton20) April 18, 2024
A previous attempt to deport him failed when Mayela claimed that he had been injured in an isolation cell at the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in Middlesex.
In his fight to resist deportation, Mayela was also backed by the charity Institute of Race Relations.
The Express newspaper reports on comments made by a source close to British Home Secretary James Cleverly who said on Wednesday night that action taken by people with “no knowledge” who “suddenly decide to intervene […] can have appalling consequences for others.”
Conservative MP Marco Longhi said the case “raises serious questions about the legal process and Mayela’s right to stay in this country.
“My constituents are sure to be furious to discover that he has remained here on what appears to be a flimsy excuse before committing this horrific crime,” the MP who sits on the Home Affairs select committee told The Sun newspaper.