Sheffield dad being deported to Jamaica today after baseball bat attack conviction

Youan Titus, aged 29 and from Parson Cross, moved to the UK when he was two years old to be raised by his grandparents after his father was murdered in Jamaica.

After serving a 27-month prison sentence for an assault involving him using a baseball bat on another man, Titus’ deportation to the country of his birth was ordered by the courts following an application by the Home Office.

He is being flown out of the UK today.

But his fiancée Jenna Deehan, who has a two-year-old son with Titus and says he is like a father to her two older daughters, says he has served his punishment in prison and had been trying to rebuild his life with his family.

She said: “It has an absolute nightmare. The kids are distraught and all his family are devastated.

“He has never left the UK ever since coming here and doesn’t even have a passport.

“He doesn’t know anybody in Jamaica. I’m scared and he is scared the people who killed his father are still there and that something could happen to him.

"He has served his time and he only knows Britain."

Jenna says she has developed a heart condition called Long QT syndrome that is triggered by stress and has required her to have a pacemaker fitted.

She said Titus helped care for the children when she was ill and she was concerned about what will happen in the future.

Titus previously served a five-year youth custody sentence for firearms offences.

Jenna said Titus' father was murdered in front of him when he was two years old.

"His grandparents brought him here because he had no one in Jamaica - he had a really hard start in life."

A Home Office spokesman said: "This Government puts the rights of the British public before those of criminals. Foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them.”

In 2015/16, the Home Office removed 5,810 foreign national offenders, the highest number ever. More than 32,000 foreign national offenders have been removed since 2010.

New legislation has made it easier to remove individuals from the country through the introduction of the “deport now, appeal later” initiative.