Former Wisbech Mayor Aigars Balsevics to Be Deported to Latvia After Rape Conviction

A London immigration court has ruled that Latvian-born Aigars Balsevics, the former mayor of Wisbech, England, will be deported to Latvia after serving his sentence for rape. Balsevics was convicted in 2023 of two counts of raping a woman in her home in 2021.

He received a prison term of six years and six months and was placed on the sex offenders register for life. He must remain behind bars until at least 2027.

Balsevics arrived in the UK in 2003 or 2004. He became a town councillor in Wisbech in 2015, where he owned several pubs and an entertainment business. In 2019, he became deputy mayor of the Conservative-controlled council, and a year later, mayor—making him the first Eastern European to hold such a post in England. Previously, in 2012, he was convicted of theft in Latvia and given a suspended sentence.

Balsevics has two children. The court heard that he was violent towards their mother and that the couple separated when the children were very young. He appealed the deportation order, arguing it would harm his children, but it was revealed that the children had no direct physical contact with him for three years and had not lived with him for six. His claim that deportation would negatively affect his girlfriend of two years was also dismissed.

Judge Susan Kebede stated that the nature and seriousness of Balsevics' offense outweighed factors in his favor, such as his relationship with his children, length of stay in the UK, previous reputation, and remorse. Therefore, deportation to Latvia was not disproportionate.