Song for 'Soldier' Samet near top of the charts as a quarter of a MILLION back his plea

A song recorded to support a teenager from Bristol facing deportation is outperforming Stormzy, Dua Lipa and Mariah Carey in the charts.

The track, called I’m A Soldier, by Stevie D Red, was ranked at number 4 in the Amazon Best Sellers chart on Thursday morning, and has been as high as number 2 this week.

The phenomenal success of the song comes as an online petition calling on the Government to stop the planned deportation of an Albanian teenager called Samet gained more than 70,000 signatures this week - which took it to more than a quarter of a million.

The dance track has been recorded, and the petition set up, as part of what is now a nationwide campaign to stop the deportation of Samet, an 18-year-old who was trafficked into Britain from Albania as a child, and fostered by John Stokes.

Mr Stokes, from Yate, has fostered more than 60 children over the past 20 years, and said after taking in Samet and caring for him he is now part of his family.

Samet went to school in Bristol and now attends college in Filton, where he is training to be a carpenter. A Bristol City season ticket holder, the teenager turned 18 earlier this year and now, as an adult, the Home Office have refused him leave to remain in Britain, and a immigration judge turned down his appeal.

Mr Stokes is a musician and producer and his friend Stevie-D-Red made the track and dedicated it to Samet’s campaign.

“It just felt so apt, because Samet has been through so much, he’s like a soldier fighting his own battles with PTSD and trauma,” said Mr Stokes.

“Stevie had this track and has recorded it as a single especially for Samet’s campaign,” he added.

The song has rocketed to the top of the Amazon Best Seller charts this week, and is currently ahead of Stormzy and Ed Sheeran’s single, as well as new releases by Bastille, Lewis Capaldi and One Direction’s Niall Horan.

When Bristol Live first reported on the plight of Samet, only a couple of hundred people had signed an online petition Mr Stokes set up to get some support. Since then, it has mushroomed online across Bristol and nationally, and passed the quarter of a million mark earlier this week.

Samet’s case mirrors a similar one earlier this year in Bristol, which saw a massive campaign from the city to stop the deportation of Stiven Bregu, who was dumped on a roundabout near Bristol as a young teenager, and went on to excel at school and win a top apprenticeship at a finance firm.

But while Stiven’s appeal was successful following a major campaign, Samet’s campaign began after the appeal was turned down.

Last week, Samet told Bristol Live he said the huge support he has received has 'made him believe in humanity again'.

John Stokes and his foster family, Dave, Ali and Samet (John Stokes)

Now, Mr Stokes is fundraising for a top London barrister to fight the case there, and said he and Samet are overwhelmed by the support.

“Six weeks ago we were feeling helpless,” Mr Stokes said.

“We asked a few people for help and a quarter of a million people turned up. My boy Samet now has an army fighting for him,” he added.

Mr Stokes said he wasn't thinking about whether the track would be the Christmas Number 1 this year - as Christmas Day for him and his family will involve answering bail at the immigration reporting centre at a Bristol police station.

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