French drug dealer jailed for flouting UK ban
Northumbria PoliceA French drug dealer who was part of a gang which attacked and chased a man before his death has been jailed for breaching a deportation order for a second time.
Edwin Taha, 25, said he knew he should not re-enter the UK but flouted the ban to visit his dying grandmother and register himself on his son's birth certificate, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Recorder Simon Goldberg KC jailed him for two years four months after Taha admitted breaching a deportation order.
Taha was previously jailed for drug dealing and affray following the death of 22-year-old Luke Jobson in Yarm in 2019, who died in the River Tees after being chased.
Emily Sanderson, prosecuting, said Taha was subject to a deportation order and was sent to France in 2023.
But he was arrested again in August 2023 for drugs offences, the court heard, and was sent back to prison, only to be released early due to an administrative mistake.
Taha was arrested again in September 2024 for further drugs offences and breaching a deportation order for which he was jailed for five years and nine months.
After serving time in prison, he was deported in November last year but flew from Paris back to the UK in January, where he was spotted by the authorities and arrested for illegal entry.
Sanderson said Taha would be deported again at some point.
Jordan Parkinson, defending, said Taha was settled in France but had come back to the UK to organise family affairs.
Taha came to the UK aged four and his mother and brother both lived and worked here still, Parkinson said.
She said he hoped to be allowed to visit them again legally, once the deportation order was lifted, while his partner and child planned too join him in France.
