UK judge rules age assessment of asylum seekers was unlawful

Two asylum seekers wrongly assessed as adults by Home Office social workers have won a victory in the high court

Two asylum seekers who arrived in the UK as children but were wrongly assessed as adults by Home Office social workers have won a victory in the high court after it ruled that the way they were treated was unlawful.

In his ruling on Wednesday, Mr Justice Henshaw found that the Home Office policy of conducting age assessments soon after arrival in the UK was unlawful, the decision to detain young people for them was unlawful, and the lack of an appropriate adult present for the assessments was also unlawful.