A man has been detained for more than two months and threatened with deportation after reporting a crime, according to his wife and lawyer.

Miroslaw, 48, and his wife, Mariola Zieba, 37, who are from Poland but live in York Road, Southend, said they went to the police after they were attacked in their home.

According to Mrs Zieba, their landlord walked into the flat they were renting with two other men, all wearing balaclavas, and forced the couple out after threatening them with a kitchen knife and a baseball bat.

However, when the couple reported the attack to the police, they questioned the couple about their immigration status and handed Miroslaw Zieba over to immigration officials.

Essex Police have confirmed they investigated the attack but that all lines of enquiry have been exhausted.

A spokesman for Essex Police added: “The way we investigate crimes is not determined by who has reported the crime – it makes no difference if they are a UK national or a foreign national and to suggest otherwise is wrong.

“As part of our enquiries into reported crimes we check the Police National Computer (PNC) as a matter of standard procedure.

“When someone is shown as being wanted on the PNC, it is our responsibility to act on that information and the public would not expect anything less from us.”

He was detained in an Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow where he remains, the couple’s lawyer has said.

Zieba is an EU national who was legally working in the UK until he was arrested and detained.

He has criminal convictions in Poland for a series of crimes, including robbery and neglecting his military duties.

He served prison time for those offences and, under its own rules, the Home Office cannot deport solely on the basis of previous convictions that have already been punished. But the Home Office insist that Zieba was already wanted due to a police incident in this country in 2016.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “Mr Zieba came to our attention because of a criminal offence he committed in June 2016 in the UK where he was cautioned by police for being in possession of a blade in a public place.

“Subsequent checks showed Mr Zieba had committed a string of serious offences in Poland which he served prison sentences for. As a result we began deportation action.

“We’ll always seek to deport foreign national offenders with a history of serious or persistent convictions overseas.”