Fears for the life of leading Championship footballer who risks being deported to Sierra Leone
Aidy Boothroyd today revealed his concern for the safety of Al Bangura, one of the Championship leaders' most promising footballers, if the teenager is found to be an illegal immigrant and deported back to Sierra Leone.
The Watford player's harrowing tale of being smuggled out of the war-torn country by a sex trafficker in 2004 was heard by an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in June.
They granted the 19-year-old permission to stay in the United Kingdom but the Home Office appealed against that decision on a legal technicality and now Bangura's fate will rest on the outcome of Monday's immigration tribunal.
Staying power: Al Bangura has shown he can mix it with the best of them, like Arsenal's Tomas Rosicky in this Premier League game at Vicarage Road last December
Boss Boothroyd, who will plead on Bangura's behalf at the hearing, said: "As far as I'm concerned we're talking about a young man's life here. I'm very concerned about his safety. We're talking about a guy who has come over from a country that has been in civil war, where there have been some real atrocities.
"But here he's settled down, he has a fiancee who is seven months pregnant, he pays his taxes and he is a role model for young people. If ever there was a case for giving somebody a hand, and for the immigration policy that we've got being applied in the right way, this is it."
If Bangura is deported, he fears the consequences. "I'd get hurt," he said. "I won't be safe. If I go back something will happen to me. Someone will come straight up to me and stab me. I'll lose my life."
Bangura claims he first went into hiding in 2003 after being asked to join a secret sect that believed in extreme rituals that included self-mutilation.
However, he fell into the clutches of a Frenchman who promised he could get him into the UK but did not tell Bangura he was being groomed as a male prostitute.
When the youngster finally arrived in London he was taken to a house where, he says, two men attempted to rape him. He fled and claimed asylum as an unaccompanied minor.
Bangura's talent on the football pitch was later spotted by Watford scouts and he signed for the club's academy. He made his first-team debut in April 2005 and has made great strides.
He has already captained Watford despite his tender years, won man-of-the-match awards, and showed his commitment to the club by buying a house in the town.
Christopher Pelentrides, Bangura's solicitor, said: "I strongly believe my client's case is a truly exceptional one. To expect him to leave all this behind and return to Africa is clearly unjustified and disproportionate."
Bangura's plight has received the support of Watford MP Claire Ward, who said: "I've made a formal representation to the [Home Office] minister to consider this as an exceptional case because of his age and his circumstances.
"Al has built a life here, he contributes to the community and is not a cost to the UK."
Boothroyd is hopeful that Bangura will win the case. He said: "I have faith in our government and in our democracy. I'm sure whoever is sat in that chair on Monday has got good judgement and will make the right decision, which is that this guy gets a chance to stay in this country."
