A deceitful asylum seeker who for years managed to pull the wool over the eyes of immigration authorities across Europe has won the right to substantial compensation from the Home Office after he was held in detention for eight months too long.
The man had lied repeatedly about his name, his age and his country of origin and was granted asylum and indefinite leave to remain in Britain in 2002 after convincing an immigration judge that he was who he said he was. He had used three different identities in six different countries, variously claiming to be British, Algerian or an army deserter from Western Sahara who would face death if forced to return there.
Criticising him for his 'dishonest manipulation of the system for his own benefit', the High Court found that all of that was a pack of lies. He was in fact a Moroccan who had left his homeland in search of a better life. The truth had emerged after he was deported to Britain from Norway in 2009 and it was hardly surprising that everything he said thereafter was treated with 'a high degree of scepticism' by officials.
On his enforced return to the UK, he was held in detention for almost two years, between September 2009 and July 2011, when the Moroccan authorities finally issued a travel document and he returned to Africa. From his homeland, he sued the Home Office, claiming he had been held for longer than was reasonable.
The Court found that, given his history of dishonesty, officials had been rightly concerned that he would disappear into the community if freed. His initial detention had been lawful and the Home Office could not be blamed for the 'extremely unfortunate' and 'inexplicable' delays by the Moroccan authorities before they recognised him as one of their own and issued travel documents.
However, once it had emerged that deporting him would not be straightforward and was likely to be a long drawn out process, the Court ruled that he should have been freed. The amount of compensation due to him for his unlawful detention between November 2010 and July 2011 would be assessed by the Court at a later date if final settlement terms could not be agreed.