An Albanian repeat offender is set to be deported from Britain for a fifth time after the Daily Mail successfully challenged an order that had shielded his identity.
Dorian Puka, 32, has received four prison sentences for burglary-related offences. Each time, he was removed from the UK, only to return illegally, according to court records.
He has also drawn attention by appearing to mock the authorities on social media, posting images of himself with expensive cars, in nightclubs and offering banknotes to his dogs.
Puka challenged his latest removal and claimed asylum, arguing that he could face danger if sent back to Albania.
At a hearing in London last month, his legal team convinced a judge to grant him anonymity, saying that disclosure of his whereabouts could place him at risk.
That protection was later withdrawn after the Mail highlighted a video Puka had recorded inside the Taylor House Immigration Tribunal Centre and posted online.
The footage not only identified where he had been, but also appeared to breach rules prohibiting photography and filming inside court buildings. Violations can lead to contempt of court proceedings and, in serious cases, a prison sentence of up to two years.
‘I accept that the image was taken in the waiting area at Taylor House, which is clearly identifiable,’ Judge Ravinder Bagral wrote after considering the Mail’s challenge.
‘The appellant’s response neither admits nor denies the journalist’s account, and I have no reason to doubt it. I therefore accept that the appellant placed his attendance at the tribunal in the public domain.’
Dorian Puka, 32, has served four prison sentences for burglary offences and was deported after each one before returning to Britain illegally. He has also appeared to taunt officials by displaying his wealth online
Puka recorded himself inside the Taylor House Immigration Tribunal Centre and posted the video on social media, leading to the Daily Mail’s legal challenge
A social media post appeared to show Puka offering a bundle of banknotes to his dogs, Mouse and Cobra
Court documents state that Puka first entered the UK illegally in either 2012 or 2013, when he was still a teenager.
His first prison term came in January 2016, when he was sentenced to nine months for burglary. He was deported after serving only around a month, but later returned to Britain illegally at an unknown date.
On November 3, 2016, he was convicted of burglary for a second time and given a two-month sentence. He was removed to Albania after spending 20 days in custody.
Puka subsequently re-entered the UK illegally for a third time. He was arrested on November 17, 2017, but was later released from custody and went on to commit further offences.
He was then convicted of burglary, theft and driving offences and sentenced to 42 months in prison. On December 20, 2018, he was deported to Albania.
He returned to Britain once again before being arrested in August 2019 for dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and possessing equipment intended for theft.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Eight Relatives Charged With Child Abuse, Incest in Kentucky
His fourth prison sentence was 18 months. Following that term, he was deported to Albania on July 29, 2020.
Puka told the tribunal that he entered the UK illegally for the last time on October 15, 2021. He later attempted to remain in the country through the asylum system, applying for leave to stay in December 2022 and submitting an asylum claim in July 2023.
His claim was rejected by the Home Office in September 2024 but he appealed. This appeal is what was considered by Judge Bagral last month.
At the hearing, Khdeeja Khan – representing the Home Office – asked Puka if he admitted to being a serial offender who had been jailed and deported four times before returning each time illegally.
She told the court: ‘Do you accept you have continuously committed serious crimes in the UK involving burglaries? Do you accept continually breaching UK border laws and breaching a deportation order four times?’
Puka accepted that his offences were ‘very serious’ but claimed he had been ‘forced’ to return to the UK illegally because of fears for his safety.
Puka has been posting extensively about his lavish lifestyle in a clear challenge to the UK authorities
Puka driving his £184k Lamborghini which he frequently shows off. His Savannah cat, a hybrid breed of a domestic and wild cat, features in many of his social media videos
Puka enjoys an expensive night out in the VIP section of the plush Cirque le Soir – a favourite haunt for A-listers
He told the court he had first arrived in the UK aged 13 before falling into the clutches of a powerful Albanian crime gang that forced him to carry out burglaries. He claimed that when he later tried to leave the gang, both he and his family became targets.
Each time he was deported to Albania, he said he learned gang members were looking for him and left again within two to three weeks.
Ms Khan suggested there was no evidence to support his claims that he was at risk in Albania and noted that he had not reported any threats to police in either Albania or the UK.
Ms Khan also noted Puka’s prolific social media use and questioned why he would continually draw attention to himself online if he was really in fear of a gang.
Throwing out his appeal, Judge Bagral said he did not accept that Puka had been forced to commit crimes by a gang or remained at risk from them.
‘I do not accept that the Appellant was associated with the gang in the manner alleged, that its members controlled or compelled him to offend, that he was kidnapped, or that he was repeatedly traced in Albania or elsewhere in Europe,’ he wrote in his judgment.
‘Nor am I satisfied that the alleged gang retains an adverse interest in him, that publicity created or increased any such interest, or that he is at risk through a blood feud.’
He found there were ‘no compelling circumstances capable of outweighing the substantial public interest in his deportation’.
KEEP READING: Cornell Fraternity Student Tells Friends He’s Traveling to Thailand to ‘Find Himself’