A Ghanaian nurse who was jailed for force-feeding her 10-month old baby to death has been allowed to stay in the UK because deportation would deprive her from a family life with her other children.
The woman, identified only as GHA, was due to be deported under the Home Office's rule that foreign nationals who receive a prison sentence of 12 months or more are automatically removed from the country unless it can be shown to breach their human rights.
In 2011, GHA was jailed for three years for “causing or allowing the death of a child in her care”.
At the time, it was reported she had fed her baby by pouring liquid food into its mouth with a jug.
The baby contracted pneumonia caused by food entering her lungs as she coughed and choked during the "cup feeding" and died in hospital.
The Home Office said it would appeal the decision
GHA's prison sentence meant she should, as a foreign national, have been deported automatically.
But an immigration tribunal has ruled she can stay indefinitely - and have her identity protected - because of her right to family life, guaranteed under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Since her release from prison, she has lived with her partner and three surviving children.
The decision sparked anger among critics of human rights legislation.
Tory MP Dominic Raab told the Daily Mail: "Many people will look at this case, a mother jailed for force-feeding her baby and feel it reflects the warped nature of our human rights laws today."
A Home Office spokesman told The Huffington Post UK it was seeking to appeal the tribunal's decision.
"We firmly believe foreign nationals who break the law should be deported. We are disappointed by the tribunal's decision in this case and are seeking to appeal against it," he said.
"We are making it easier to remove people from the UK and harder for individuals to prolong their stay with spurious appeals, by cutting the number of appeal rights from 17 to four.
“It will also ensure that judges deal with Article 8 claims in the right way — making clear the right to a family life is not regarded as absolute and unqualified.”