According to the Home Office, the presence in the UK of Snoop Dogg, rapper, ex-drug-dealer and writer of the song Serial Killa, was “non-conducive to the public good”.

But now Snoop Dogg - real name Cordozar Calvin Broadus - could be heading back to Britain after the ban was overturned by an immigration appeals judge.

The American star was refused a visa last year after claims that he and five members of his entourage provoked a mass brawl at Heathrow Airport in 2006.

Reports at the time said he lashed out at security staff and threw bottles of spirits through airport windows when asked to leave the British Airways VIP lounge.

Yesterday, however, in yet more bad publicity for British Airways after the Terminal 5 debacle, Judge George Warr ruled that the brawl was “precipitated by decisions made by BA staff and police”.

Far from being Snoop's fault, Judge Warr said there was no evidence that the rapper had been responsible for any public disorder at all.

He agreed with the conclusions of Nehar Bird, an immigration judge, who ruled in January that the authorities had failed to show that Snoop's exclusion from Britain would be conducive to the public good.

The Home Office's appeal against that earlier decision was dismissed yesterday, paving the way for the rapper to re-enter the UK.

It was not Snoop that provoked the fight, a DVD film of the incident showed. In fact, the 36-year-old had been pushed twice by a police officer but did not retaliate. At the time, Judge Warr agreed, the former pimp had been doing no more than “entertaining children”.

Judge Bird noted: “The appellant’s behaviour on the DVD showed him interacting with the public. The children were laughing and generally enjoying either dancing or singing or playing music.”

Snoop’s visa request was turned down on March 23 2007, the day before he was due to join fellow rapper P Diddy in the UK to speak to young black teenagers at an event organised in response to a spate of gang shootings.

“The aim was to speak against the glamorising of firearms as a fashion accessory,” Judge Bird said.

“The appellant and P Diddy were to speak to British teenagers about the loss of other rap artists and how that had affected them personally.”

Snoop, who once wrote that “One gun is all that we need, to put you to rest / Pump pump, put 2 slugs dead in your chest”, was unhappy.

“It’s not the fans, it’s just a few people in white wigs and Members of Parliament,” he reportedly said. “They got a problem because the law is from the 1800s.”

The rapper’s lawyer, Phillip Trott, said last night: “It has been an appalling waste of public money to pursue this man. It is outrageous that the government is trying to exclude someone who is an innocent figure and has frequently spoken against gang culture and youths carrying guns.”

The Home Office has until next Wednesday to decide whether to appeal. A spokeswoman said it would be inappropriate to comment before then.

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