Deon P. Green, Gleaner Writer
THE MOTHER of Toni-Ann Byfield, the seven-year-old Jamaican slain in the United Kingdom (U.K.) in 2003, has reportedly lost her asylum claim and is once again facing the possibility of deportation.
Earlier this month, Roselyn Richards and her two sons were taken off a plane at Heathrow Airport in London, after a last-minute appeal by campaigners against attempts to deport them. They have since been held in an immigration detention centre.
Ms. Richards went to the U.K. after Toni-Ann and Betram Byfield, her alleged 41-year-old father and a known drug dealer, were shot dead at a bed-sit in Kensal Green, North London.
SHOT AS SHE FLED
Toni-Ann was shot in the back as she fled from the killers. The police theorise that the child was killed because she may have known or been able to identify the killer(s), who sought her father.
Ms. Richards believes the killer may be in the Caribbean and had expressed fears that if she returned to Jamaica she would be killed.
Backed by Community Victim Liaison, a group which supports families of violent crime, Ms. Richards submitted an application to the Home Office to extend her stay in the UK, but it arrived two days after the deadline.
Ms. Richards' lawyer, Andre Clovis, from law firm Christian Khan, said his client had claimed asylum in the U.K. because she feared for her safety in Jamaica, where the investigation has spread.
FAMILY MEMBER MURDERED
He said a member of her family had already been murdered in Jamaica for asking questions about Toni-Ann's death and that she has received death threats.
The Home Office assesses cases on individual merit and so has not confirmed details of Ms. Richards' claim. Ms. Richards said she wanted to stay in the U.K. to hear an inquest into her daughter's death and an inquiry into Birmingham Social Services, which had Toni-Ann in its care when she died.
Ms. Richards will now lodge an appeal on behalf of herself and her two sons, aged 11 and 14. The Gleaner has also been reliably informed that Ms. Richards intends to file another appeal against the latest Home Office decision.
