A psychotic Nigerian armed robber and crack cocaine dealer has been permitted to stay in the United Kingdom (UK) because he believes he is ‘possessed.’

According to UK news website, The Telegraph, the Nigerian, who believes he is ‘suffering from demonic forces,’ can stay in the UK on human rights grounds, the judge ruled.

“A psychotic Nigerian armed robber and crack cocaine dealer has been spared deportation because he would be considered ‘possessed’ in the African country,” the report read.

The criminal was reportedly jailed for seven years for carrying out an armed robbery at a brothel in 2011, and seven years later was sent to prison for supplying crack cocaine.

A deportation order was made more than 10 years ago, in April 2014, but he appealed on human rights grounds.

According to the report, the serial offender is still in Britain a decade later and has been allowed to stay because he believes he is possessed and that treatment in his home country is insufficient, a judge has ruled.

The case is the latest example exposed by The Telegraph where migrants or convicted foreign criminals have used human rights laws to remain in the UK or halt their deportations.

They include an Albanian criminal who avoided deportation after claiming his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets, and a Pakistani paedophile who was jailed for child sex offences but escaped removal from the UK as it would be “unduly harsh” on his own children.

The criminal, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has spent much of his time in the UK in a secure mental health hospital and “hears voices all the time.” However, he is now back in the community.

According to experts, he presents a “high risk of serious harm” to the public. He is also addicted to crack cocaine. But because he is undergoing treatment and will not get the same care in Nigeria, he has been allowed to stay.

Stephen Smith, an upper tribunal judge, ruled that a previous judge made an error of law.

He said: “We note the appellant’s recurring belief that his mental ill-health is a result of being possessed. We assess that him expressing this belief would increase the likelihood that others will see his illness as being a manifestation of possession.”

The court heard that a report prepared by Amnesty International for this appeal said: “It is our assessment that on return to Nigeria [the appellant] is likely… to encounter widespread attitudes that confirm and amplify his belief in demonic forces and witchcraft as being at the root of his problems. He is, moreover, at substantial risk of being identified as suffering from demonic forces and faces a resultant risk of being targeted as a result.”

A doctor found the appellant “suffered from a trauma-related disorder with psychotic features.”

His report found that the criminal experienced intrusive memories and nightmares and was preoccupied with demonic forces “playing tricks with his mind.”

His sleep was affected in a pathological manner, and he claimed that demons prevented him from moving when he woke up.

Judges said that the decision to deport the man to another country would require a comparison between “the highly prescriptive treatment environment currently enjoyed by the appellant with the removal of such provision in the destination country.”