Home Office lifts deportation order for Windrush generation man, 62, after 50 years in UK

Tony Hall had faced removal to Barbados, a country he left as a child; lawyer says historical injustice unresolved

By LineZotpaper

Published21 October 2026

Updated21 October 2026

Read Time3 min

Sources2 outlets

The Home Office has revoked a deportation order for a 62-year-old man who has lived in Britain for 50 years, days after his case was highlighted in the Guardian. Tony Hall, who came to the UK from Barbados aged 12 in 1976 as part of the Windrush generation, was told on Tuesday that the order was lifted after repeated attempts by officials to deport him to a country he left as a child and has not visited since.

Hall had been subject to a deportation order since 2009 following a 2001 conviction for conspiracy to rob and having a firearm with intent, a crime for which he served eight years in prison. Police stopped Hall and his co-defendants before the robbery was committed. Since his sentence ended, Home Office officials had tried to remove him to Barbados, including a failed attempt in January 2010 when he was put on a flight but returned to London the next day after Barbadian authorities apparently refused to issue entry papers.

As a result of his precarious immigration status, Hall has been prohibited from working, renting accommodation, receiving benefits, or accessing full NHS treatment. He argued he should not continue to be punished for a crime committed 25 years ago for which he had already served time.

His lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, welcomed the decision but said the historical injustice remained unresolved. “For over 17 years, our client has endured fear, detention, relentless uncertainty, exclusion from work and housing, and ultimately destitution. The Home Office may revoke a deportation order, but it cannot give our client back 17 years of his life.”

Hall said the protracted period of limbo had been very difficult and that he was relieved to now have “the chance to live in the country I call home without fear.”

The Home Office indicated the timing of the decision to lift the deportation was coincidental. Clive Foster, the Windrush commissioner, also intervened with the Home Office, arguing for a compassionate approach. Fiona Bawdon, author of “Will I Always Be British?”, a study of people with precarious immigration status, said: “Either the government wants to do right by all of those it harmed or it doesn’t. What ministers fail to realise is that each time they treat someone in the way they treated Tony Hall, other Windrush victims – even those who’ve now had their citizenship confirmed – feel as if they could still be at risk.”

Analysis

Why This Matters

The case highlights ongoing failures in resolving Windrush-era immigration injustices, more than six years after the scandal first came to light.
For 17 years, Hall was left in legal limbo, unable to work or access housing and healthcare, illustrating the human cost of rigid deportation policies.
The decision sets a precedent that may encourage other affected individuals to seek similar relief, but does not address the broader systemic issues.

Background

The Windrush scandal erupted in 2018 when it emerged that the UK Home Office had wrongly detained, denied rights to, and in some cases deported people from the Caribbean who had legally settled in Britain between 1948 and 1971. Many lost jobs, homes, and access to healthcare. The government later apologised and set up a compensation scheme, but thousands of cases remain unresolved, with victims still fighting to prove their right to remain.

Key Perspectives

Tony Hall and his lawyer: The deportation order has been lifted, but 17 years of fear, destitution, and exclusion cannot be undone. They welcome the decision but insist the historical injustice remains. Windrush Commissioner Clive Foster: He intervened to argue for a compassionate approach, pressing the Home Office to consider Hall’s ties to the UK and lack of connection to Barbados. Critics and Windrush advocates: Author Fiona Bawdon and others warn that each case like Hall’s revives anxiety among all Windrush victims, making them feel that their status remains fragile even after confirmation.

What to Watch

Whether the Home Office will apply similar compassionate reasoning to other Windrush-era deportation cases.
Potential further legal or campaign pressure for a more systematic review of outstanding deportation orders against long-term UK residents.
Any official statement from the government acknowledging the broader implications of Hall’s case.

Sources

Home Office lifts deportation order for man, 62, who has lived in UK for 50 years · UK news | The Guardian
Home Office lifts deportation order for man, 62, who has lived in UK for 50 years · World news | The Guardian

Checked

12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 8 supported.

Show each claim

Partly supportedThe deportation order was lifted days after the Guardian highlighted Hall’s case.World news | The Guardian: “His case had been highlighted in the Guardian a day earlier.”
Partly supportedHall is a Windrush generation man who came to the UK from Barbados aged 12 in 1976.World news | The Guardian: “Hall had repeatedly tried to get the deportation order lifted, arguing that as the child of parents who emigrated to the Britain as part of the Windrush generation, he had the right to remain in the UK. He has no surviving relatives in Barbados and has not visited the country since arriving in London aged 12 to join his parents and five older sisters in 1976.”
Partly supportedHall had been subject to a deportation order since 2009.World news | The Guardian: “Officials have been attempting to deport him since the end of his sentence in 2009.”
SupportedHall’s lawyer said the historical injustice remained unresolved.World news | The Guardian: “His lawyer, Naga Kandiah at MTC Solicitors, welcomed the decision but said: “The historical injustice at the heart of this case remains unresolved.”
SupportedKandiah said Hall had endured “fear, detention, relentless uncertainty, exclusion from work and housing, and ultimately destitution” for over 17 years.World news | The Guardian: “For over 17 years, our client has endured fear, detention, relentless uncertainty, exclusion from work and housing, and ultimately destitution.”
Partly supportedFiona Bawdon said other Windrush victims could still feel at risk, and the story quotes her as ending the sentence there.World news | The Guardian: “What ministers fail to realise is that each time they treat someone in the way they treated Tony Hall, other Windrush victims – even those who’ve now had their citizenship confirmed – feel as if they could still be at risk, as if they are not really seen as British and this could be taken away from them again.”
SupportedThe Home Office lifted the deportation order for a 62-year-old man who had lived in Britain for 50 years.World news | The Guardian: “The Home Office has lifted a deportation order handed to a 62-year-old man who has lived in Britain for 50 years”
SupportedHall was told on Tuesday that his deportation order had been revoked.World news | The Guardian: “The Home Office wrote to Tony Hall on Tuesday to inform him that his deportation order had been revoked.”
SupportedHall was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to rob and having a firearm with intent, and spent eight years in prison.World news | The Guardian: “The Home Office had previously stated that he was liable for deportation because of a 2001 conviction for conspiracy to rob and having a firearm with intent. Police stopped Hall and his co-defendants before the robbery was committed. Hall spent eight years in prison.”
SupportedHall was returned to London the day after being put on a flight to Barbados in January 2010, apparently because Barbadian officials would not issue entry papers.World news | The Guardian: “The Home Office put him on a flight to Barbados in January 2010 in an attempt to deport him to the country of his birth, but he was returned to London on the same plane, arriving the next day. Officials in Barbados appear to have been unwilling to issue him with papers to enter because of the length of time he had been in the UK.”
SupportedHall’s precarious immigration status barred him from work, renting accommodation, benefits and full NHS treatment.World news | The Guardian: “As a result of his precarious immigration status, he has been prohibited from working, renting somewhere to live, receiving benefits or receiving full access to NHS treatment.”
SupportedClive Foster intervened with the Home Office, arguing that a compassionate approach should be taken in Hall’s case.World news | The Guardian: “Clive Foster, the Windrush commissioner, the independent advocate for victims and families affected by the scandal, also intervened with the Home Office, arguing that a compassionate approach should be taken in Hall’s case.”