Mother of 5-year-old boy who was beaten to death by his 'stepdad' faces deportation from the UK

A Ukrainian woman, whose 5-year-old son was beaten to death by her boyfriend after going into an "uncontrollable rage" because the boy had lost a shoe in a play park, risks being deported from the UK as she no longer has a British dependant.

According to the Daily Mail, Liliya Breha – who has lived for almost 12 years in London after moving to Britain in 2006 – now faces deportation following the death of her son Alex Malcolm. Born to a British father, the boy met with a tragic death after being assaulted by Marvyn Iheanacho – the man who was in a relationship with his mother – in November.

Iheanacho was later found guilty of murdering Alex and was sentenced to life at Woolwich Crown Court on 25 July, 2017.

The mother of the deceased boy has now told news outlets, "Immigration lawyers say it would be impossible to stay here now I have no British child.

"Alex is buried here. I can't leave my son on his own. Who will tend his grave and watch over him? It's unthinkable. I have nothing and no home to go back to in Ukraine," Breha said, adding, "I've been through hell and now I have this bombshell. I've been so let down by the authorities, my blood is boiling."

After the death of Alex, it had emerged that Iheanacho was a repeat offender. He had a history of domestic violence, including one incident in 2010 where he had beaten his partner with a saucepan before punching and kicking her 13-year-old son when he attempted to intervene.

He was even jailed in 2016 for striking an ex-girlfriend with a belt. And upon his release, he was forbidden from having unsupervised contact with children below 16 years of age.

However, the man had breached all terms of his release within a few weeks.

According to the grieving mother, "Marvyn should have been recalled to prison. He had breached his licence."

She explained, "I blame myself that I was stupid enough to trust this man around my son, but if they had done their duty properly, Alex would still be alive."

A campaigner for Breha added, "The circumstances of this are appalling. The mother was unaware the killer had previous convictions for violence against different women.

"Now the threat of deportation because she is no longer responsible for a British-born child as he has been killed is beyond belief. The Home Office needs to exercise discretion."