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Kelowna  

HA associate deported

A judge has dismissed a former Kelowna Hells Angel associate's application to review his deportation order, after the Canadian permanent resident was ordered out of the country.

David Revell, an English-born 53-year-old who has lived in Canada since he was ten years old, was deemed inadmissible to Canada on the grounds of “serious criminality” and “organized criminality.”

The order stems from two sets of convictions in the Okanagan. The first was a 2008 conviction of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking of cocaine, resulting from a July 2005 bust, which was part of a province-wide crackdown on the Hells Angels.

The second convictions came in 2013 after Revell pleaded guilty to an assault with a weapon in Summerland and an assault causing bodily harm in Vernon, stemming from allegations made by his girlfriend at the time.

Revell was sentenced to five years of jail in 2008 and was given a suspended sentence with two years of probation for the two assaults in 2013.

In July 2016, the Immigration and Refugee Board issued a deportation for Revell, sending him back to England, where he is a citizen.

In his application for a judicial review of the decision, Revell argued that the consequences of his deportation, namely being removed from his family, would be a “grossly disproportionate” punishment.

Revell has three children in Canada and three grandchildren. He works in Provost, Alta., but regularly returns to Kelowna to be with his family. He lives in Provost with his girlfriend of two years.

Revell has no ties to England, and testified that without his family support, he may not survive the move “due to emotional devastation.”

He also claims he does not pose a risk to society, making the deportation “cruel and unusual treatment” of him.

The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association was an intervenor in the case, and argued that deportation would violate Revell's Charter rights.

"Regardless of his citizenship, Canada is his home country," the BCCLA submitted. 

Despite the support from the BCCLA, Justice Catherine Kane dismissed Revell's review application, disagreeing with Revell's idea of “cruel and unusual.”

“As a long-term permanent resident, the deportation order may appear harsh, and perhaps slightly disproportionate, if as he claims, he is at a low risk to reoffend and does not present any risk to public safety and given that he has called Canada home since childhood,” Justice Kane wrote in her decision. “However, this does not rise to the level of being grossly disproportionate or cruel and unusual.”



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