A Jamaican who was convicted in the UK, who said he was illegally detained before being deported, has won £1 in damages from the Home Office, the Telegraph reports today.

The man, known only as LE, fought the case in the High Court and Court of Appeal even after being deported, the report said.

The judges ruled that part of the time he was locked up “was technically unlawful because there was a failure to carry out monthly reviews of his custody”, the report said.

The man, 47, had spent 20 years in Britain and served seven years in jail “for plotting kidnap and blackmail” before his deportation.

His legal team fought the case and won a ruling that, “as there was a failure to carry out monthly reviews of his custody, his detention was unlawful for about seven months in 2006”.

He was awarded the £1 in damages.