Iranian asylum seeker, 18, with a ‘distinguished Adam’s apple’ cuddled a teddy bear and pretended to be a toddler to get into Britain

An 5ft 8in Iranian asylum seeker with a ‘prominent Adam’s apple’ has been fined £16,000 after he cuddled a teddy bear and pretended to be a child to get into Britain. 

The adult male had been aged 18 at the time but deliberately tried to ‘deceive’ authorities by claiming he was a teenager, an asylum tribunal found.

An investigation was launched about the migrant’s true date of birth and found the foreigner had a ‘deep voice’, ‘fully formed jaw line’, a ‘well-developed bone structure’, ‘large ears’, and ‘physical characteristics of an older male’. 

The British Red Cross supported the asylum seeker after he successfully launched a legal challenge against the decision, arguing the man was a child because he liked to ‘hold and cuddle’ a teddy bear.   

Despite this, Upper Tribunal Judge Clive Lane has now ruled the Iranian was 18 when he entered the UK in 2022 and chose to ‘conceal’ his true age during his bid for asylum.

Judge Lane ordered the unnamed migrant pay Liverpool City Council’s legal bills, which were £16,442. The Iranian may have to pay the full sum but the amount he owes is yet to be determined.

The tribunal, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was told the Iranian entered Britain in October 2022 and claimed asylum.

He claimed that he was born on a day in May 2005, making him 17 at the time of entry.

In November of 2022 social workers from Liverpool City Council carried out an enquiry about his age and assessed him as over 18, attributing him a date of birth of May 1999.

After the British Red Cross offered him support in early 2023, the council remained steadfast and insisted they would not be conducting a new age assessment.

Eventually the Iranian was granted permission for a Judicial Review however the case came before the Immigration and Asylum Chamber before this took place.

The tribunal was told the Iranian is ‘currently provided with support and accommodation by the Home Office’ and has been living in hotels.

At the tribunal, which convened solely to determine his age, details were heard about the council’s initial age assessment.

Outlining their initial assessment, a tribunal report said: ‘[He] presented as approx. 5 feet 8 inches tall with a well-developed bone structure and of medium build.

‘[He] has a fully formed jaw line, prominent Adam’s apple, large ears and facial features of an adult and appears significantly older than his claimed age.

‘[He] has the physical characteristics of an older male such as a deep voice.

‘His demeanour was of someone who is not assertive and there was a time during the assessment that he cried and we again offered him an opportunity to take a break but he declined this.

‘He consistently had a poor posture when sitting talking to us and we took your health condition into consideration, however, he looked as if he was trying to make himself look smaller than he actually is. He told us that he has a condition called Alopecia and this was why he was embarrassed to take off his cap.’

At the tribunal, the Iranian argued he did not have any ID documentation to prove his age.

He claimed that he knew his date of birth to be a date in May 2005 because his uncle used to tell him that ‘my grandfather passed away on the day I was born’.

He had never been to school and it was heard he told the Home Office that he worked as a smuggler at age 16 for around two years.

The Iranian argued that UK authorities ‘attached excessive weight’ to the issue of his age.

Helene Santamera, Project Co-ordinator at British Red Cross, told the tribunal: ‘From my observations of [the Iranian], he is much more comfortable and relaxed with the children that have had their age accepted than he is with the adults…

‘At a Christmas party during a Friday drop-in, [he] had ‘gratefully received teenage boy appropriate presents’ and had asked if he could have a teddy bear which he held and cuddled.

‘For all of the reasons stated above, I have no reason to doubt the age that [he] has given.’

Judge Lane found that the Iranian was born on a date in May 2004 – not a date in May 2005 – and that he was 18 when he entered the UK.

‘I did not find the [Iranian] himself to be an impressive witness’, Judge Lane said.

‘I have taken full account of his vulnerability and that he is (irrespective of my assessment of his age) a young, uneducated man living alone in a foreign country where he cannot speak the language and to which he has made a stressful and arduous journey.

‘I was satisfied that he understood the questions put to him. I was not satisfied that he gave truthful evidence to the Tribunal.’

Judge Lane did not believe some of the Iranian’s arguments.

He added: ‘In the light of all the evidence, I find that the story about the grandfather is a convenient fiction which the [Iranian] has memorised to enable to explain why he can recall his false date of birth. It has every characteristic of a learned response.’

The judge also said the Iranian gave conflicting evidence about his ID documents as he had claimed Iranian authorities took his documents including his birth certificate, then later claimed he had never seen his birth certificate.

‘I do not accept that the [Iranian] has given truthful evidence about the disappearance of his Iranian identity documents’, Judge Lane said.

‘I find that, had he been telling the truth, [he] would not have given such different answers.

‘I find that [he] has been in possession of the Iranian identity documents and has lied about their whereabouts.

‘I find he has done so because he does not want the United Kingdom authorities or the Tribunal to examine the documents.

‘I find the documents probably contain evidence of [his] age which is inconsistent with the account he has given.

‘I find as a fact that [he] is aware of his true date of birth, that the date is not what he now claims it be and that he has sought to deceive the United Kingdom authorities as to his true age.’

Judge Lane also said a key bit of evidence was the Iranian’s first testimony to the Home Office when he said he had been a smuggler in Iran at age 16 for around two years.

‘I find that in his Home Office asylum interview the [Iranian] has given a true account of his activities immediately before he came to the United Kingdom, a true account which he has subsequently tried to deny’, the judge said.

Judge Lane dismissed the need for a Judicial Review and said the Iranian is liable to pay the local authority’s costs but that the sum will need to be determined at a later date.