Harjit Singh, 48, who has been in the UK for 19 years, is unwilling to co-operate with a Home Office bid to arrange emergency travel documents to get him flown out. Officials are unable to resort to tougher measures and will have to turn to the Indian embassy for help, an immigration hearing was told. Singh, of no fixed address, claims to be a devout Sikh. He came to the attention of the authorities in 2016 only when he was arrested over the sex attacks. He was jailed in October 2016 at Kingston Crown Court for six years after he ambushed a 35-year-old vulnerable woman that July.

He followed her after she got on a bus in Hounslow, west London, then forced his way into her flat as she went inside.

Singh tried to rape her, but bizarrely fell asleep, and the woman alerted neighbours.

He admitted attempted rape and trespass with intent to commit a sexual act and was given a further six months after sexually assaulting two nurses at the Royal Free Hospital, north London, in 2015. But Singh, who requires a Punjabi interpreter, absconded while on licence from prison and was put into detention.

His delaying tactics emerged as he applied for bail while the deportation process continues.

A judge at the west London immigration hearing refused to grant Singh bail, saying: “This is a person who has in the past absconded. He is likely to continue to avoid and evade any immigration controls.”

A Home Office lawyer said Singh failed to attend two appointments to fill out necessary papers. She said: “There is no barrier to the applicant’s removal. All appeal rights have been exhausted.”

But Singh’s legal team said he did not know he needed to attend and denied that his removal was imminent. They said he would use the extra time to keep fighting deportation.

Det Cons David Fall, who investigated the attempted rape, said he believes Singh has committed other offences and urged for victims to come forward.

He said: “Singh is a predator who targeted a lone and vulnerable woman in broad daylight and he displayed a sense of arrogance as he carried out his attack without fear of being caught.”

Source: Read Full Article