A Hungarian asylum seeker, deported from Canada, is making a last ditch plea to stay in the UK amid claims he will be persecuted back home.

Peter Balogh claimed that if he had to go back he would be arrested at the airport and beaten up. He alleged he had been beaten and had cigarette burns on his forearm because he is from a Romany background.

At an Immigration Appeals hearing in Leeds yesterday his barrister, Tasaddat Hussain, claimed Mr Balogh, 44, his wife Andrea, 28, and young son, also called Peter, of West Bowling, had all suffered psychologically because of their torment.

The family made a previous attempt to seek asylum in Canada and when they were sent back they claimed to have been beaten up and their son put in an orphanage for three weeks. He said police accused them of "bringing shame" on Hungary. They fled to England soon afterwards.

Andrea told the hearing through an interpreter: "When we returned from Canada my son was put in an institution. Now he goes to bed late because he is frightened of nightmares when he sleeps. He has flashbacks to what happened."

Since coming to Bradford he had improved, she said, but was still was not recovered.

A psychologist supporting their bid for asylum said the child was showing all the signs of traumatic stress. It is imperative he remains in an environment which is safe and secure," her report said.

The hearing heard Mr Balogh had been accused of breaking into a camera shop and assaulting a woman motorist. But the accusations were made because he was of Romany origin, said Mr Hussain,

He said Hungary's bid to stop discrimination as it tries to join the EU wasn't enough to stop the Balogh family being persecuted in the future.

The family were appealing against a Home Office letter which had refused them asylum status. After hearing the two-hour evidence, special adjudicator Kenneth Robb said he would consider it all and send his decision in writing in a few weeks.