Lord Justice Nicholas Underhill said George enjoyed the “highest level of protection from deportation” as a European Economic Area (EEA) national and there had been no “express misdirection of the law.”

EEA regulations, adopted by the UK from a 2004 EU directive, previously allowed director killer Philip Lawrence to remain in the UK.

Learco Chindamo was 15 when he stabbed Mr Lawrence to death outside his London school in 1995.

In 2007, Chindamo, an Italian national, won an appeal against his deportation on the grounds that he was from an EU country and had already been living in the UK for 10 years by 1995.

Mr Hafidah, a member of the Rusholme Crips gang, was chased after straying into rival territory in the Moss Side area of ​​Manchester.

George played a crucial role, his sentencing was told, in confronting Hafidah and allowing others to catch up.

The attackers beat the teenager, threw a hammer at him and hit him with a car, killing him with a stab wound to the neck.

Seven men were convicted of murder and imprisoned for life. Three other people, including George, were convicted of manslaughter.

“Good relations with parents”

Rejecting a Home Office application for deportation in 2023, an immigration court ruled that George had expressed remorse and had “no intention of becoming involved in any criminal offense in the future”.

Mr Justice Bruce, sitting in Manchester, said: “William George was a promising footballer. He had left home almost two years before this offence, having secured a semi-professional contract at Morecambe FC and a scholarship to Lancaster College.

“He had a GSCE, went straight from school to Morecambe, had no criminal convictions and worked part-time in a restaurant. He had also worked as a children’s soccer coach.

“Clearly he had a good relationship with his parents who had provided him with a stable and supportive home. This was his life until that afternoon in May 2016.

“His involvement in the murder of Mr. Hafidah changed all that.

“He has spent almost all of the last seven years in prison and was only recently released on bail. He now lives in a bail hostel, some distance from his parents. He does not have a job and is not currently in any training.

The judge’s decision continued: “He received an extreme and profound education on the dangers of violence. When he says he has no intention of getting involved in any criminal offense in the future, I believe him.

“He was punished”

The Home Office challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal, where three judges ruled that the immigration court had acted lawfully.

Lord Justice Underhill concluded: “Nothing in our decision means that we take anything other than the most serious view of Mr George’s conduct.

“But he was punished for this behavior with the 12-year prison sentence he received.

“The question in this case is whether, in addition to this sentence, he should be deported to Belgium (where he has not lived since the age of eight).

“The rule of the regulations is that it does not depend as such on the seriousness of the offense but on whether the offense poses a sufficiently serious risk to public safety in the future.

“The judge, after carefully evaluating all the evidence, concluded that this was not the case. I must say that I find his reasoning convincing but in any event it does not contain any error of law.

Following Brexit, the government no longer complies with EEA regulations.

Non-British criminals are subject to deportation if they receive prison sentences of 12 months or more.