A CONVICTED drug dealer has been told by one of the country’s top judges he should be deported to Palestine – despite claims his life could be in danger.

Mahmoud Jaber, of Accrington, has been in the UK since he was an eight-year-old but had racked up a string of drug-dealing convictions. Now the 31-year-old is set to be returned to his home country after an Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) judge ruled he had an ‘appalling history’ and dismissed an appeal against his removal.

His lawyer Carla Rawlinson claimed Jaber’s safety could be in jeopardy because his uncle had been killed by Israeli forces during an insurgency in 1989.

Her client would have to travel through an Israeli checkpoint and explain why he had been absent for more than 20 years, she told the court.

But the immigration tribunal heard that Jaber, formerly of Arncliffe Avenue, has been serving a six-year jail sentence for being involved in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine.

He was given a further 21-month jail sentence for money laundering in September 2012, after a court heard he lived a ‘lavish lifestyle’ and had helped to buy a £44,000 car with his ill-gotten gains.

Back in 2004 he faced his first brush with deportation, following his first major conviction at Burnley Crown Court, again for dealing in heroin and crack cocaine.

But while he was told in May 2007 that efforts were being made to deport him, he lodged a successful appeal under the Human Rights Act.

The tribunal heard though that he was warned, in a January 2008 letter, that if he ‘came to adverse notice’ in future his status would be reviewed again.

Further deportation proceedings were served on Jaber and he lost a later appeal at Bradford Magistrates Court. He then took the case to the upper tribunal.

Rejecting his appeal, Judge Richard Chalkley said the original panel had found that his offending was ‘simply too serious’ to outweigh his claims to stay in the country.

“Those were findings which, given the appellant's appalling history, were open to the panel to make,” he added.

The judge also noted that no asylum claim or further representations had been made under the Human Rights Act, regarding possible torture or ill-treatment, by Jaber’s legal team.

Earlier the court heard that Jaber had first come to the UK with his mother and other family members in 1988 for a six-month stay but came permanently in February 1992, to join his father.

Jaber’s father was given several permissions to remain in the country before being given indefinite leave in 1998.

Jaber, who had unsuccessfully applied for British nationality, began his criminal history in 2003 and 2004, with minor drugs and motoring convictions, imposed by Hyndburn magistrates.