LONDON (Reuters) - A British man was rescued by a Somali man who was traveling to London's Heathrow Airport before being found to be part of a gang that had gang-raped a teenage girl.
The man, named Yacoub Ahmed, was scheduled to be deported to Somalia on Tuesday, but the flight was halted after a number of passengers on board the same flight protested shortly before the plane took off, The Times reported.
"Do not let him go back to his country, they will kill him there," he said. After arduous negotiations, the Somali was taken off the plane and canceled his deportation.
Passengers seemed to have mistaken their solidarity with Jacob, who media reports said was not worth staying in Britain.
On Sunday night, the British Home Office issued a statement, listing all foreigners convicted of a crime and facing deportation.
In the statement, the name of Yacoub Ahmed, aged 29, who was sentenced to nine years in prison, was raped by a 16-year-old girl.
The incident follows a number of deportations that have been canceled due to passenger solidarity with the deportee.
Last July, a Swedish activist stood in a heroic position alongside an immigrant in a plane preparing to take off. She was still demanding not to be deported to his country, where he faced an unknown fate that could end in death. He received a video of her crying and protesting in the world.
