Henry Smith MP has called on the Justice Secretary in the House of Commons to ensure that an Afghan national who attacked two Sussex Police officers with a claw hammer last year is deported immediately upon his release from prison.

Jamshid Piruz, who attacked PC Jessica Chick and PC Stuart Young during a break-in in Crawley on 7th January 2016, saw his minimum prison sentence reduced from five to three years at a Court of Appeal hearing last month.

Henry said;

“The original sentence was too lenient in my opinion so I was appalled when the time for this vicious crime was slashed in August, and sought to raise this case in the Commons at the earliest opportunity.

“I share the concerns of the Sussex Police Federation and many of my constituents who have contacted me on this issue in recent weeks. It can’t be right for this violent criminal to be allowed to remain in our country after such a serious offence.

“The independence of our judiciary must be respected, however I remain deeply disappointed that Piruz’s prison sentence was reduced on appeal by the court.

“The footage of the officers being attacked is harrowing. It shows a gross disrespect for our country and its respect for the rule of law – including those who help bravely preserve it every day.”

Henry Smith MP asked the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice;

“In January last year, an Afghan national who had previously served time for murder in the Netherlands attacked two Crawley police officers with a claw hammer. Recently, the Court of Appeal has reduced his sentence. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that the Sussex Police Federation’s requests to the Home Office will ensure that he is deported at the earliest opportunity?”

The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Rt Hon David Lidington MP, responded;

“I can give my hon. Friend an assurance that the views of the Police Federation and others in his constituency will be conveyed fully to the Home Office. It remains the Government’s collective will to ensure that those foreign national offenders who merit deportation are deported as soon as possible after serving their sentence.”