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A foreign convict who has committed nearly 80 crimes has been allowed to stay in the UK – because he is an alcoholic.

The landmark case has seen the Libyan man argue that he would be punished back if he were to be sent back to his homeland, where alcohol is forbidden.

In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, the man – who has been granted anonymity by the courts – successfully claimed he could face whipping and imprisonment back in Libya.

The 53-year-old immigrant, who can only be identified by his initials ‘HU’, has been convicted of 78 different offences on 52 different occasions, the upper immigration tribunal head.

The tribunal added that HU, whose crimes were not detailed in court, had “behaved disgracefully” and that his offences were committed “largely and possibly exclusively as a consequence of his alcoholism”.

But the court ruled that the punishment he faces in Libya would be too severe and he has a "right to family life" in Britain.

HU first came to the UK to study aeronautical engineering in 1981 and has been here ever since, apart from a short period in Libya in 1993, the court heard.

The Home Office sent the convict five letters warning that he would be deported if his crime spree continued and was finally issued with a deportation notice in 2008.

But HU appealed against the ruling and won on the grounds that it would breach his human rights, the Telegraph reports.

He continued with his alcohol-fuelled criminal activity and was issued with a new order in 2013.

But in what the judge described as an "unusual case" HU has been allowed to stay in the UK following a ruling by the upper tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.

According to court papers, a British-Libyan researcher told the upper tribunal that alcohol is readily and widely available in Libya, and "under the rule of militia the usual routine for a person found drinking was arrest, possible whipping and detention for a few days".

Belal Ballali said he thought there was "a chance of virtually permanent detention in the case of an habitual drunk”.

The Home Office – who strongly opposed the appeal - argued that HU could avoid punishment in Libya by avoiding alcohol.

But Judge Jonathan Perkins said: “The fact is the claimant has had many years of trying to deal with alcohol dependency and recognises that he cannot.

“It is very easy for a person not addicted to a substance to take the high moral ground and pontificate about how easy it is for the addict to alter his lifestyle but is clearly is not easy.

“If it were easy there would not be so many alcoholics, smokers and overweight people.

“The claimant’s history is addiction is such that he cannot abstain from consuming alcohol when alcohol is available.”

Judge Perkins concluded that if HU returned to Libya he would be exposed to "a risk of ill-treatment” and the Home Office appeal was dismissed.