How judges ruled age claims were false

A CHILDREN’S home in Birmingham questioned the age of an Afghan asylum seeker after the 12year-old was found to be shaving – and was noted to have a ‘deep broken voice’.

Birmingham City Council ordered an age assessment which ruled he was over 18 and one assessor said he appeared to have been coached to parrot stock phrases in a deliberate bid to dupe officials.

Publicly-funded lawyers took the case to an immigration tribunal, which ruled he was probably a month short of his 18th birthday when he arrived in Britain in 2008, but 22 at the time of the tribunal in 2013. His asylum claim was rejected.

An Afghan asylum seeker who claimed to be 13 when he arrived in Britain in 2008 was challenged after social workers spotted grey hairs.

The teen claimed he had fled his home in Helmand Province after being injured in an airstrike.

Croydon social workers noted he was shaving and had ‘a few grey hairs ’ but assessed his age as 16.

When he was put in a young offenders’ institution in 2012 for theft, criminal damage and assault, he said he was ‘over 19’, so at least 20, and did not want to be treated like a child. An immigration tribunal ruled there was ‘no reasonable likelihood’ he was 13 on arrival, but was probably then 16.

And an Iranian asylum seeker who said he was 14 when he arrived in Britain later applied for benefits saying he was really two years older.

The teenager, who said he was fleeing political unrest in 2008, told social workers in Liverpool he was born in 1994, but claimed income support saying he was born in 1992. He was assessed as being 18 or 19, but a second assessment estimated 16.

Publicly funded lawyers took his case to the High Court in 2010, and argued he was entitled to claim benefit owing to his official age of 16, despite his previous 14 claim. The judge ruled he was probably 16 but noted he had ‘manipulated’ the system.