Convicted Albanian murderer allowed to continue his asylum application

Convicted Albanian murderer who was held at Manston processing centre for three weeks before being jailed for entering UK illegally is STILL allowed to continue his asylum application

• Mariglen Shoshari arrived in Kent in October after small boat was intercepted
• He had been convicted of murder and firearm offences in Greece in 2012 
• Shoshari, of no fixed address, told authorities of the murder and jail sentence 

An Albanian convicted murderer held at Manston processing centre was jailed for entering the UK illegally – but has still been allowed to continue his asylum application.

Mariglen Shoshari, 31, arrived in Kent in October after the small boat he was crossing in was intercepted by the authorities. He had been convicted of murder and firearm offences in Greece in 2012 and had been given a 18-and-a-half year sentence.

Shoshari was brought ashore and taken to the former Ministry of Defence site in Thanet, which has been turned into an asylum seeker processing centre.

On the processing form he filled in he admitted his previous crimes and was charged with entering the UK illegally and yesterday jailed for 60 days.

The Manston facility has come under the spotlight as it has emerged 3,500 people are being detained there for weeks – although it is intended to hold 1,600 for just days.

Mariglen Shoshari, 31, arrived in Kent in October after the small boat he was crossing in was intercepted by the authorities. He was taken to Manston (pictured) 

A note thrown over the perimeter fence by a young girl yesterday suggested 50 families had been held there for more than 30 days.

Among the thousands being detained was Shoshari, who was asked to fill in a questionnaire form given to new arrivals.

On it Shoshari, of no fixed address, told authorities of the murder and jail sentence.

As a result of what he admitted on the questionnaire, immigration authorities charged him with arriving in the UK without valid entry clearance.

After 23 days in immigration detention, Shoshari appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to the offence.

Julie Farbrace prosecuting, told magistrates Shoshari had arrived on the small vessel on October 10 with others and was taken to Manston for processing.

She added: ‘He was brought to shore and it was confirmed he was an Albanian national.

‘At Manston he was asked to fill in an asylum questionnaire where he confirmed he’s been arrested in Greece and charged with murder and firearm offences.

‘He said he’d been sentenced to 18-and-a-half years, but served eight years and seven months.

‘He has no UK convictions and no immigration history in this country. He was not the pilot and there were others in the boat.’

Chairman of the bench, Mark Tucker asked the prosecutor why others on the same boat had not been charged with the same offence of entering the UK illegally.

Ms Farbrace replied: ‘Everyone on the boat could be charged with the offence, but it doesn’t happen at the moment. But it could happen in the future.’

The court also heard Shoshari applied for asylum in this country on October 12, two days after his arrival and that his application would continue.

Magistrates decided to jail Shoshari for 60 days for the offence and ordered he pay a victim surcharge of £154 after his release.

This week hundreds of people have been moved out of the Manston facility following concerns it had become dangerously overcrowded.

The site, located at a former Ministry of Defence fire training centre, opened in January.

The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has warned tensions within the facility are rising.

In a statement this week, it said: ‘A POA member working at the site likened the situation to a pressure cooker coming to the boil with a jammed release valve.

‘She described the ability to move people on from the site in a timely manner as that pressure release valve.

‘We have had reports of incidents escalating, altercations between residents boiling over and resulting in injury with police having to be called to the site to investigate assaults and provide support to staff.’ 

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