Judges rejected Home Secretary Theresa May 's attempt to deport the 53-year-old serial criminal because of the risk of 'unacceptably savage ' abuse he faced in Libya . A Libyan convicted of 78 offences can not be deported from Britain because he is an alcoholic . Seven years after the man was first told he would be booted out of the country , a judge has finally ruled that it would breach his human rights . In what is thought to be an unprecedented case , he successfully argued he would be tortured and imprisoned by the authorities in his homeland because drinking alcohol is illegal . Judges rejected Home Secretary Theresa May 's attempt to deport the 53-year-old serial criminal because of the risk of 'unacceptably savage ' abuse he faced in Libya . It means he will be able to continue his drink-fuelled offending spree in Britain . His case is estimated to have cost British taxpayers a six-figure sum , including the cost of police time , legal fees racked up by challenging his claims in the courts and the costs of keeping him in prison . The case reignited the row over the ease with which alleged foreign criminals could exploit human rights laws . Last night Peter Bone , Tory candidate for Wellingborough , said the case illustrated why Britain should scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights . 'This kind of things drives people mad , ' he said . 'On the doorstep they find cases like this outrageous . Few people will think this man should remain in the country . He has completely abused our hospitality . ' Despite insisting the Libyan had 'behaved disgracefully ' to rack up 78 crimes on 52 occasions , the Upper Immigration Tribunal said deporting him would violate the European Convention on Human Rights , incorporated into British law by the Human Rights Act . It found that removing him would breach Article 3 , the right to avoid inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment , and Article 8 , the right to a private or family life . In a written ruling , Judge Jonathan Perkins said : 'Under the rule of militia [ in Libya ] the usual routine for a person found drinking was arrest , possible whipping and detention for a few days . ' Expert witnesses had claimed that there was ' a chance of virtually permanent detention in the case of an habitual drunk ' . He he successfully argued he would be tortured and imprisoned by the authorities in his homeland because drinking alcohol is illegal . Belal Ballali , a British-Libyan researcher , said 'commercially produced alcohol is widely available in Tripoli ' and 'cheaply made 'moonshine ' is readily available and cheap to buy outside the capital ' . The man , who was granted anonymity by the courts and can only be identified by the initials 'HU ' , came to Britain in 1981 to study engineering . Apart from a short period in Libya from August 1993 to October 1994 , he has remained here ever since . He had spent 'many years ' trying to deal with his alcohol dependency . During that time he had been imprisoned for a string of offences 'largely and possibly exclusively as a consequence of his alcoholism ' , the judge ruled . No details of his crimes were given but none of them involved sexual assault , violence or other serious law-breaking . In July 2008 , after giving him five warnings , the Home Office told 'HU ' he would be deported , but he appealed and won on the grounds that it would breach his human rights . He continued to offend and a new deportation order was issued in January 2013 . An immigration court overturned that and yesterday it emerged that the department 's appeal had failed .
Judge ruled deporting Libyan alcoholic beverages breach his human rights . The year - old serial killer has been convicted of multiple offences in Britain . He argued he would be put in prison because drinking alcohol is illegal . His case is estimated to have cost British taxpayers a five - figure sum .