A Polish career criminal who should currently be serving a five-and-a-half year jail term in his native country will not be deported despite being convicted of fraud offences while on the run in Scotland, a court heard today.
Karol Zblewski was sentenced to the lengthy jail term in Poland in his absence last October.
Just months later he committed a string of dishonesty offences in Dundee – for which he was jailed for 22 months at the city’s sheriff court today.
The case had been deferred for investigations into whether the immigration authorities planned to have Zblewski thrown out of the country.
But the court was told officials had not served deportation paperwork on Zblewski – who has convictions in his homeland for robbery, embezzlement, burglary, theft and drug offences – and that there was no warrant out for his arrest on his Polish sentence.
A sheriff expressed his “surprise” that they had chosen not to take the “obvious choice” to have him deported.
Sheriff Alastair Brown told a court: “His record in Poland is remarkably bad.
“I’m surprised to hear that the immigration authorities are not proposing to do anything about that.
“It may be that there’s a request to come for his extradition on a European Arrest Warrant as it appears there is an unexpired sentence to serve.
“On October 30, 2017 he was sentenced to five years and six months in Poland.”
Fiscal depute Gavin Burton said that no deportation notice had been served on Zblewski.
He added: “There are at present no outstanding European Arrest Warrants for him.”
The sheriff added: “My hands are tied if I don’t have a deportation notice. I can’t make a deportation recommendation.
“He has an egregious criminal record and the making of a deportation recommendation would be an obvious choice to make.”
Zblewski and his co-accused Tomasz Miller admitted a total of 11 charges on indictment at Dundee Sheriff Court.
The court was told they used a stolen bank card to carry out a string of scams in Dundee.
They used the card to buy juice, scratchcards and £700 worth of credit on an online gambling site.
Zblewski, 29, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment to five charges of reset, fraud and attempted fraud.
Miller, 35, also a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty to a total of six charges of reset, fraud and attempted fraud.
Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed Zblewski for 22 months and imposed a community payback order with 270 hours unpaid work on Miller.
He said: “I don’t seek to make a political point when I quote the Scottish Government in saying that Polish people are welcome in Scotland.
“You, Mr Zblewski, are the exception.
“I have your Polish criminal record.
“Since 2007 you have been convicted of burglary, theft, producing drugs and importing drugs.
“You went to Germany and committed offences there.
“You went back to Poland and were convicted of robbery, supplying drugs and swindling.
“You went back to Germany and committed embezzlement.
“Now you are in Scotland committing offences.”
