Aigars Balsevics, 55, who served as the First Citizen of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire in 2020, has lost a legal challenge against deportation following his conviction for rape. He was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for the sex assault, which occurred in 2021.
Balsevics, who is Latvian, had appealed the deportation order, arguing it would breach his human rights by impacting his relationship with his two children. A First-tier tribunal judge initially supported his claim, stating that the separation of the children from their father would be "unduly harsh." However, Upper Tribunal Judge Susan Kebede has now overturned that decision.
Judge Kebede noted that Balsevics' children had not lived with him for six years and had not had physical contact with him for three years. She wrote in her judgment that Balsevics had committed a serious criminal offense and was considered a risk to the public and children, despite being assessed as a low to medium risk. The judge also highlighted a history of abuse of his ex-partner, to the extent that she obtained a restraining order against him, and that Balsevics had been assessed as causing harm to his children, who witnessed the abuse.
Balsevics entered the UK in 2003 and became a businessman, owning pubs and properties. In 2012, he received a suspended jail term in Latvia for robbery but was permitted to return to the UK. He later became a town councillor in Wisbech, eventually serving as deputy mayor before becoming mayor in 2020. He was suspended from the Conservative Party following his conviction.
The rape conviction came in August 2023, when jurors at Peterborough Crown Court heard that Balsevics had entered his victim's home and assaulted her twice. The victim, who cannot be named, had repeatedly told him to stop. Police were alerted, and Balsevics was arrested the following day.
The defendant was informed by the Home Office in November 2023 that he would be deported after serving his sentence. He was stripped of his pub license in 2021 after violating COVID-19 regulations.
In her judgment, Judge Kebede stated that the factors in Balsevics' favor, such as his relationship with his children and his community standing, were outweighed by the seriousness of his offending, his past treatment of his ex-partner and its effect on his children, and limited evidence of rehabilitation. She concluded that there was no indication the children's mother could not provide adequate care in his absence.
Steve Barclay, the Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire, which includes Wisbech, commented that Balsevics should be deported as soon as possible. He suggested the case illustrated the need to leave the European Convention on Human Rights due to the costs incurred by the criminality and tribunal hearings.
Balsevics is set to remain on the Sexual Offenders Register for life. His conditional release date is December 11, 2026. The case has drawn attention to broader debates about the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes in the UK and the role of human rights laws in such proceedings.