Blackburn father urges fatal crash driver's deportation
- Published
Mr Houston said Ibrahim had left his daughter to die "like a dog"
The father of a girl left dying under the wheels of a car has urged judges for "justice" by deporting the driver.
Paul Houston, from Darwen, Lancashire, told judges they had the power to bring his "seven years of hell to an end" by sending Aso Mohammed Ibrahim to Iraq.
The Iraqi Kurd fled after knocking down 12-year-old Amy Houston in Blackburn in 2003. He was jailed for four months.
On Monday the UK Border Agency (UKBA) began a tribunal appeal against the decision to grant Ibrahim residency.
Ibrahim, 32, was jailed by Blackburn magistrates for driving while disqualified and failing to stop after an accident.
The father-of-two was due to be deported but won the right to stay in the UK after a series of appeals at the Manchester Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.
As the UKBA appeal against the decision got under way, Mr Houston, 41, requested the two judges read a letter, an impassioned plea, before making their decision.
'Contempt' claim
The tribunal heard details of Ibrahim's criminal convictions, including driving while disqualified and without insurance, possession of cannabis and cautions for criminal damage and burglary and theft.
In 2006 - three years after the fatal crash - he was again convicted of driving whilst disqualified and without insurance.
In 2009 he was also convicted of harassment, damage to property and theft, the tribunal heard.
Matthew Barnes, for the UKBA, said Ibrahim had shown "contempt to the laws of the UK".
He added: "The appellant [Ibrahim] has spent his time here repeatedly committing a variety of criminal offences, some of which has led to imprisonment."
Mavelyn Vidal, counsel for Ibrahim, said his client's partner - who also has two children - had spoken of him in "glowing terms" as a father.
Senior Immigration Judge Deborah Taylor refused permission for Mr Houston to address the hearing, but accepted his letter.
Outside the tribunal, Mr Houston said: "All I have asked for is justice for Amy. You have seen his catalogue of crimes, what possible benefit does this man have being in this country?
"I have never asked for any type of revenge, all I ask for is for him to return to his own country.
"I don't think that's an unreasonable request, not the way he left my daughter to die like a dog."
The judges will deliver their decision in December.