Man 'in limbo' after being barred from flight to UK

Siyabonga Twala, 34, says he is "desperate" to return home

A man has said he is stuck "in limbo" after being barred from flying back to the UK due to a cannabis conviction.

Siyabonga Twala, 34, who lives in Chester, was returning from a family holiday in December when he was stopped at an airport in Istanbul, Turkey.

Mr Twala, who moved to the UK aged 15, was jailed for cannabis possession with intent to supply in 2018.

The Home Office said foreign national offenders who commit crimes in the UK "will face the full force of the law".

The HGV driver said he had travelled with his family to South Africa to show his son, who is British, the country where he had grown up.

Mr Twala had been on holiday to South Africa with his family in December

When they made a connecting flight home in Turkey, the airline told Mr Twala the Home Office would not let him board the plane, he said.

Mr Twala has since been staying in a hotel, has spent all his savings and said he was desperate to return home.

"I've got no-one else but myself here," he said.

"I miss my son the most.

"When you are away from them for so long it feels like you are being really ripped apart and there's nothing you can do."

Mr Twala's parents, who also live in Chester and were with him at the airport when he was stopped from boarding the plane, said they were "still in shock".

Mr Twala's parents said the family holiday had turned into a "nightmare"

His father, Siya Twala, 55, an NHS nurse, said it had been "a nightmare" which had "devastated the family".

"Going to South Africa, we were happy, in high spirits," he said.

"Coming back we were still happy until we reached Istanbul. That's when the whole nightmare began."

His mother, Gloria Twala, 53, an NHS healthcare assistant, said the couple had used their savings to help support their son and had paid for a lawyer to help him return home.

"We are really not ourselves any more," she said.

"I'm always angry all the time, I don't sleep properly. We need our son back."

Mr Twala said he missed his family and young son

In 2018, Siyabonga Twala served four-and-a-half months of a nine-month sentence.

On his release, Mr Twala said the Home Office had tried to obtain a deportation order to South Africa but it was never signed.

Mr Twala's lawyer, Nick Hughes, said the legislation the Home Office was using was usually reserved for terrorists or notorious criminals.

He said a first-time offence and the sentence served does not form "a sufficient enough threat to the UK society to exclude this individual".

He said Mr Twala "absolutely 100% should be here in the UK to be with his family".

"The fact that he has been stuck in Turkey without any update is maddening to say the very least," he said.

Mr Twala served four-and-a-half months of a nine-month sentence in 2018

Mr Twala said he had no friends or family in South Africa or Turkey and had turned his life around after being released from prison.

"I've made one mistake in my life," he said.

"I think we all have a time in our life where we become a bit confused.

"I took full responsibility for it. Since my sentence I've worked really hard to prove I'm a good parent and I'm willing to go to work every day.

"I'm fighting just to come home now and to just be with my family and to just resume my life."

A Home Office spokesperson said foreign national offenders who commit crimes in the UK would "face the full force of the law, including deportation at the earliest opportunity for those eligible".

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