by Ellen Wiles
Two bookish havens for my research and writing have been the British Library and Gladstone’s Library. I have a host of wonderful people to thank for supporting me on this journey and reading drafts along the way, in particular Christine Green and Clio Cornish, for believing in the book and offering many excellent suggestions for improving it, but also to David Wiles, Sarah Polcz and Rachel Louis for taking the time to read drafts. Last but not least, my stoic and supportive husband Sydney Nash has not only read numerous versions of this story but has looked after our two tots during vital writing retreats so that I could take a break from reading picture books and focus on finishing this one.
References
Chapter 1: Jude
Page 3: ‘Welcome to heaven, how about a cup of tea? The cold facts about immigration – why so many asylum seekers head for Britain.’ Daily Mail, 14 November 2009
Chapter 2: Yonas
Page 10: ‘Cereal offenders: Asylum seeker gang collected £24 million drug money in Special K boxes’ Daily Mail, 9 February 2010
Chapter 3: Joe
Page 17: ‘Asylum seeker travels 50 miles to Britain strapped under school trip coach . . . and emerges with a grin and thumbs-up’ Daily Mail, 14 April 2010
Chapter 4: Yonas
Page 24: ‘MIGRANT SHAMBLES: EU “has surrendered complete control of its borders to people smugglers”’ The Sun, 22 June 2016
Page 24: ‘Tortured asylum seeker fraudulently claimed £21,000 in benefits while earning £2,000 a month’ Daily Mail, 28 February 2011
Chapter 5: Quentin
Page 34: ‘BARE-FACED CHEEK: Fury as German nudists are ordered to cover up after a migrant shelter arrives near their lake’ The Sun, 23 June 2016
Chapter 6: Yonas
Page 39: ‘Rapist asylum seeker who dumped victim on rubbish tip is released after being TWO hours away from deportation’ Daily Mail, 15 December 2011
Page 45: ‘Smuggling gangs want to sneak Calais migrants into Britain to commit crimes HERE’ Daily Express, 21 August 2015
Chapter 7: Emil
Page 59: ‘UK IMMIGRATION SHOCK 150,000 illegal immigrants enter UK each year, says whistleblower ex-Home Office boss’ The Sun, 16 June 2017
Chapter 8: Yonas
Page 71: ‘MIGRANTS CLASH: French cops use tear gas in running battles with hundreds of migrants trying to clamber on lorries bound for Britain’ The Sun, 21 June 2016
Page 83: ‘Stowaway shambles: asylum seeker who keeps trying to return to Morocco sues Britain for STOPPING him’ Daily Mail, 4 January 2011
Chapter 9: Jude
Page 87: ‘Who knows what horrors he has been through?’ Swedish police chief sparks anger by SYMPATHISING with Somali boy, 15, charged with social worker’s murder’ Daily Mail, 27 January 2016
Chapter 10: Molly
Page 91: ‘Asylum seeker who paralysed a pensioner in car crash escapes jail’ Daily Mail, 17 September 2006
Chapter 11: Yonas
Page 99: ‘Taking us for a ride: £100k of your cash blown by charity on days out to help refugees “integrate”’ The Sun, 19 December 2015
Chapter 12: Meg
Page 120: ‘Lying asylum seeker can stay here – because she had two children by an HIV alcoholic’ Daily Mail, 1 February 2011
Chapter 13: Yonas
Page 128: ‘“I was possessed by ancestral African spirit”: Asylum seeker’s astonishing defence over noise complaints’ Daily Mail, 21 January 2011
Chapter 14: Veata
Page 149: ‘Lawyers “play the system on asylum”’ Daily Mail, 19 November 2008
Chapter 15: Yonas
Page 159: ‘Former asylum seeker living for free in £1.2m taxpayer-funded mansion is charged with benefit fraud’ Daily Mail, 25 January 2011
Chapter 16: Jude
Page 168: ‘One-legged Albanian killer who pretended to be a Kosovan asylum seeker to gain UK citizenship will finally be deported after 14 YEARS of living on handouts’ Daily Mail, 1 July 2016
Chapter 17: Gavin
Page 171: ‘Migration officer sang Um Bongo song to an asylum seeker from Congo’ Daily Mail, 4 March 2010
Chapter 18: Yonas
Page 178: ‘Asylum “chaos” allowed ricin plotter to kill’ Daily Mail, 14 April 2005
Chapter 19: Tesfay
Page 186: ‘Failed asylum seeker who has dodged deportation for a decade told he can stay . . . because he goes to the GYM’ Daily Mail, 24 October 2011
Chapter 20: Yonas
Page 194: ‘Failed asylum seeker strangled and drowned bakery worker who refused to marry him so he could stay in the UK’ Daily Mail, 30 September 2011
Chapter 21: Nina
Page 205: ‘What about my human rights, asks woman beaten unconscious by asylum-seeker ex-lover freed by judge’ Daily Mail, 6 September 2010
Chapter 22: Yonas
Page 225: ‘“The hammer didn’t do it - I had to strangle her”: Chilling boast of failed asylum seeker who strangled British girlfriend after learning he was to be deported’ Daily Mail, 11 June 2012
Chapter 23: Gebre
Page 234: ‘Scandal of the “gay” asylum seeker rapist’ Daily Mail, 22 June 2006
Chapter 24: Yonas
Page 244: ‘How uncle Azad, the master forger, gave thousands of illegal immigrants a passport to Britain’ Daily Mail, 30 April 2010
Chapter 25: Clara
Page 255: ‘Struggling schools “swamped with asylum seekers”’ Mail On Sunday
Chapter 26: Yonas
Page 259: ‘Asylum seeker sews up face’ Daily Mail
Chapter 27: Martina
Page 269: ‘Guards at asylum seeker centre unmasked as BNP members’ Daily Mail, 14 January 2009
Chapter 28: Yonas
Page 278: ‘Bogus asylum seeker accused of murdering teenager attempts suicide in prison’ Daily Express, 16 March 2017
Chapter 29: Jude
Page 291: ‘“Let’s clear asylum backlog”: Tough new rules to deport foreign crooks FAST’ Daily Express, 18 April 2017
Chapter 30: Melat
Page 295: ‘Failed asylum seeker who raped a teenager in a park as she had an epileptic fit is jailed for ten years’ Daily Mail, 28 June 2011
Chapter 31: Yonas
Page 298: ‘Asylum seeker jailed for hour-long HAMMER attack on wife he used for visa’ Daily Express, 1 May 2017
Page 303: ‘Illegal immigrant who killed pensioner, 91, in car crash finally caught after FOUR years . . . hiding in cupboard’ Daily Mail, 27 April 2010
Chapter 32: Jude
Page 315: ‘How ten human rights cases clog up our courts EVERY DAY’ Daily Mail, 13 February 2011
Copyright
HQ
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First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2017
Copyright © Ellen Wiles 2017
Ellen Wiles asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © November 2017 ISBN: 9780008228828
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