Wiltshire
| DRUGS RAID |  | | | SWINDON MAN TO GIVE UP RESIDENCY BATTLE | | | | PEWSEY SOLDIER TEACHES TROOPS | | | | COMBE CRASH DRAMA | | | | GAZETTE THEATRE | | | | | | | ON AT THE CINEMA | | | | | | |
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Swindon man to give up residency battle
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| Arnel Cabrera |
A Filipino man whose wife died after an NHS blunder said today he was on
the point of giving up his fight to stay in Britain.
Before his wife Mayra's untimely death, Arnel Cabrera, 38, was permitted
to stay in Britain on the basis that she was working as a theatre nurse
- but when she died he was told by the Home Office he was no longer
welcome.
The couple had planned to build a life for themselves in the UK. But
after his wife's death, Mr Cabrera was allowed to stay only until the
end of her inquest in February this year.
Mr Cabrera made an application for leave to remain in the UK shortly
after the case, in which the jury found that his wife had been
unlawfully killed when an epidural anaesthetic was mistakenly injected
into her arm rather than the space of her spinal cord during child
birth. The couple's son Zac, who survived, turns four this Sunday.
Mr Cabrera - said by his lawyer today to be "fed up of waiting" - said
that he had yet to hear back from the Home Office.
He said he was giving immigration authorities until Wednesday before he
flies home to the Philippines to see the son he desperately misses - and
effectively gives up on his dream of living in Britain.
Mr Cabrera said in a statement: "I have been unable to return to the
Philippines during this difficult period and I desperately miss my young
son, Zachary. I have promised him a holiday on May 17 as a birthday
treat which I am not prepared to cancel under any circumstances as I
have missed his last three birthdays.
"I have therefore given the Home Office until the May 14 to make a
decision on my application, failing which, I have asked them to return
my passport. This I understand will be treated by the Home Office
technically as a permanent withdrawal of my application, although my
wish is only to be with my son at this very difficult time.
"I have requested that I be allowed to return to the UK after a short
trip to the Philippines to see my son but I understand that this will
not be allowed."
Mr Cabrera came to the UK in 2003, joining his wife Mayra, 30, here
after she started work as a theatre nurse in 2002 at Great Western
Hospital in Swindon.
He was granted leave to stay in the UK, provided his wife was working,
until 2009, after which an application to stay indefinitely was expected
to be a formality.
But on May 11 2004, moments after Mrs Cabrera had given birth, a midwife
at the same hospital where she worked mistakenly hooked up a drip to her
arm of Bupivacaine, a potent anaesthetic to be administered epidurally.
Mr Cabrera was subsequently informed after his wife's death that because
she was no longer working in the UK that he could no longer stay here.
Mr Cabrera added: "It had always been Mayra's wish that the both of us
should make a new life for ourselves in Swindon and to see our son grow
up in this country. Sadly, due to a tragic error at our local hospital,
Mayra was taken away from me. As well as losing a much-loved wife, I now
face the strong possibility that I will also lose my adopted home too. I
had hoped in light of the publicity surrounding my wife's inquest, that
the Government would deal with my application promptly and show me
compassion and understanding."
Mr Cabrera's lawyer Seamus Edney said the way his client has been
treated by UK authorities was "appalling".
David Masters, the Wiltshire Coroner, who presided over Mrs Cabrera's
inquest in Trowbridge, said today: "I remain sympathetic to Arnel's
situation but I cannot make any further comment."
A spokesman for the Home Office said: "All applications for leave to
enter or remain are carefully considered on their individual merits.
Someone can request their passport back and be given it back and that
would not invalidate their claim. However, if they leave the country it
would."
8:53am Friday 9th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: helen, Athens greece on 7:47am Sun 11 May 08
Is this the compensation that Mr Cabrera receives for the UK killing his wife? He should be allowed to stay, instantly, and his son. Shame on the Home Office - let's look after Mr Cabrara, not persecute him.
Is this the compensation that Mr Cabrera receives for the UK killing his wife? He should be allowed to stay, instantly, and his son. Shame on the Home Office - let's look after Mr Cabrara, not persecute him.
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