Immigration court ruled a Sudanese asylum seeker with a deep voice and 'very hairy legs' was a child as physical attributes are 'not a useful indicator for age'
An immigration court has reportedly ruled a Sudanese asylum seeker as a child despite him having a 'deep voice' and 'very hairy legs'.
The court's decision is said to have overruled a Home Office and council assessment who had claimed his physical appearance 'very strongly suggested' he was 'significantly over 18' and that he was likely to be around 24.
But the upper tier of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber allegedly claimed these were not 'useful indicators' of a person's age and backed the asylum seeker's claims that he was aged 16.
The Telegraph reported that the asylum seeker was said to have 'very mature hands with thick hair on his arms', a 'deep voice', a 'very mature face and beard', a 'receding hairline' and a 'pronounced Adam's apple'.
They also say the court heard he had 'significant and deep lines on forehead that remain even when he is not making facial movements'.
The asylum seeker, who was granted anonymity in the hearing, was reportedly visited by social services after arriving in the UK who said they believed he was an adult.
However, it was alleged that there was a 'lack of care' in this visit and the court instead agreed with a later assessment which found he was 16 years old when he came to the country, boosting his chances of securing asylum.
The asylum seeker arrived in the UK in December 2023 and told Home Office officials he was born on September 20, 2007.
He said he fled Sudan due to war in the country and that he was afraid he would be kidnapped like three of his friends were.
The asylum seeker said his mother and teachers at his school told him his date of birth, which the tribunal found was 'consistent' throughout the hearing.
Upper Tribunal Judge Gemma Loughran said: 'We have reminded ourselves of the importance of not over-emphasising physical characteristics, but in any event having reviewed [photographs] we are satisfied they do not support their conclusions. We do not agree that the [asylum seeker] 'has a very mature face'.
'It is clear from the photographs that the [asylum seeker] did not have a beard or indeed any visible facial hair at all. We also note that the photograph of the applicant attached to the 'Age Assessment Self-Referral Form' does not show the [asylum seeker] as having any visible facial hair.
'We are not persuaded thick hair on a person's arms and legs is a useful indicator of age. We accept he has lines on his forehead. However, we do not consider they are either 'significant' or 'particularly deep'. Accordingly, we do not find we are assisted by [the] observations of [his] physical appearance.'
Social workers last year made an assessment of the asylum seeker and found he was the age he had claimed to be.
The social workers said: 'Based on the information available, we believe that the overwhelming evidence supports [the asylum seeker's] claimed age.
'We recognise that other professional judgments have deemed him to be over 18 years of age. However, most of this evidence is unreliable due to its content or lack of transparency concerning the processes undertaken when gathering this information, therefore we are unable to give their judgments significant weighting.
'There was no significant evidence collecting during our assessment interview that indicated [the asylum seeker] was older than his claimed age and we were able to address some of the concerns raised in the previous assessments, which [the asylum seeker] confidently and competently elaborated on to resolve.'
Upper Tier Tribunal Judge Loughran added: 'In terms of our assessment, the applicant's physical appearance is of little value to our overall task, but we do not consider that the [asylum seeker]'s physical appearance provides material support for the respondent's conclusion that he is 8 years older than his claimed age.'
The Home Office and council's assessment that he was an adult have been dismissed after the asylum seeker's date of birth was declared as September 20, 2007.
The council will now foot the costs of the claim for judicial review.
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