A JUDGE who allowed an Albanian burglar with 50 convictions to remain in Britain had been on the board of a refugee charity.
Immigration and Asylum Tribunal Judge Leonie Hirst backed a decision not to boot out Zenel Beshi.
She claimed his crimes were not “very extreme” and would not cause “deep public revulsion”.
She also allowed a Guinean asylum seeker guilty of knife and drug offences to stay because he was “socially and culturally integrated”.
The Sun on Sunday can reveal Judge Hirst, 51, served as a director of the now-closed Refugee Legal Centre while working as a barrister in the mid-2000s.
She was also involved in 2015 litigation that ended fast-track decisions while migrants were held in removal centres.
We previously told how Tribunal Judge Melissa Canavan had been a senior caseworker at the Refugee Legal Centre.
And Judge Fiona Beach was on the board of pro-migrant activist group Asylum Aid.
Last night Tory Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Judge Hirst is one of many immigration judges whose political views happen to overlap with their decisions.
“It destroys confidence in the justice system.”
A Judiciary spokeswoman said: “Upon taking office, judges take the judicial oath.
“They swear to act ‘without fear or favour, affection or ill will’.”
Immigration and Asylum Tribunal Judge Leonie Hirst Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
