High Court: Sex offender released from detention pending deportation challenge

About this case:

• Citation:
  [2026] IEHC 667
• Judgment:
  External link
• Court:
  High Court
• Judge:
  Mr Justice Conleth Bradley

Delivering an ex tempore judgment for the High Court, Mr Justice Conleth Bradley in granting the man’s release determined that “there has been no evidence adduced of an individualised risk of absconding to such a nature or degree that it cannot adequately be managed by release subject to appropriate conditions.”

Background

The first applicant entered the State in September 2003 pursuant to a student visa, and was later joined by his wife and three children in January 2021. A further child was born in the State, and so from 25 November 2021, the first applicant and his wife held Stamp 4 permissions as the parents of an Irish citizen child. 

The first applicant held permission to remain in the State for almost 23 years between September 2003, with his Stamp 4 permission being revoked in June 2026. 

On 27 November 2024, the first applicant was convicted, following a guilty plea, of the sexual assault of a young adult passenger in his taxi contrary to s.2 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 (as amended).  

On 11 March 2025, the first applicant was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, was taken into custody at Mountjoy Prison and was ordered to be registered as a sex offender.

The first applicant was imprisoned at Mountjoy until his release on 8 September 2026, when he was re-arrested on foot of a deportation order made on 26 August 2026 and moved to Cloverhill Prison.

With his deportation scheduled to occur on 28 September 2026, the first applicant obtained an interlocutory injunction restraining deportation on 15 September 2026 and subsequently obtained leave to apply for judicial review challenging the order.

By way of a further application issued on 29 September 2026, the first applicant sought an order pursuant to s.5(7) of the Immigration Act 1999 that he be released from detention.

The High Court

Mr Justice Bradley addressed the s.5(7) application, noting that s.5 provides that a person cannot be detained for more than an eight-week aggregate period, with the time period during which legal proceedings have been instituted not being reckonable.

As to the first applicant, the judge observed that as leave for judicial review was granted on 5 October 2026, time had been paused insofar as the eight-week period was concerned.

The Minister opposed the application on the basis that the first applicant’s deportation order had only recently been issued and there was a risk that he, as a convicted sex offender being released into the community, might seek to evade deportation.

Mr Justice Bradley examined in detail the judgment in K. (Detention Pending Deportation) v Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration [2026] IEHC 514, in which Mr Justice Garrett Simons outlined that detention pursuant to s.5 of the 1999 Act is a form of preventative civil detention intended to ensure deportation and is exceptional in nature.

The court explained that the factors favouring release outlined at paragraph 16 of K, including having a stable address and the surrender of travel documents, were applicable to the exercise of the court’s discretion in the first applicant’s case, with the factors weighing against release being inapplicable on the facts.

Mr Justice Bradley opined, “having regard to para. 30 of the judgment in K, there has been no evidence adduced of an individualised risk of absconding to such a nature or degree that it cannot adequately be managed by release subject to appropriate conditions.”

In particular, the judge highlighted that the first applicant had been granted an interlocutory injunction restraining his deportation for the time being, and that he had now been granted leave to apply for judicial review, though no immediate hearing date had been set as leave was so recently granted.

As to conditions for release, Mr Justice Bradley noted that the applicant had already surrendered his passport to the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), had indicated that he would reside with his family at their home address, and would report to the Garda Station in Swords or an immigration officer at whatever intervals were specified.

Conclusion

Accordingly, the High Court granted conditional release from detention pursuant to s.5(7) of the 1999 Act subject to conditions that he must reside at his address on Forest Road, Swords, County Dublin, must report to the GNIB offices at 11am on 13 October 2026 and on each Tuesday thereafter, and must, in addition to his passport, surrender any ID, travel or other document capable of facilitating international travel to the GNIB.

BM & Ors v Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration [2026] IEHC 667