Migrant considered 25, with ‘deep brow wrinkles’ and ‘protruding Adam’s apple’, is definitely a baby of 17, British asylum courtroom guidelines

A Sudanese migrant with ‘deep forehead wrinkles’ and a ‘protruding Adam’s apple’ is actually a child, a British asylum court has ruled. 

The migrant was assessed as being 25 when he arrived via a small boat because he has a ‘weathered’ face, a beard, and a ‘well-developed jaw line and cheek bones’.

Despite the migrant claiming he was and is still under 18, officials in Britain said he must be an adult because he has a ‘protruding Adam’s apple’, old acne scars, and sunken eyes.

Known only as ‘ASB’, the asylum seeker maintained that he was 17 when questioned and provided evidence including his TikTok and Facebook accounts.

Now, a judge from the Immigration and Asylum Chamber has sided with the Sudanese migrant and ruled he is in fact 17, and was 16 when he entered Britain.

He will now be treated as a child in any future hearings about his asylum status.

ASB arrived in the UK on a small boat and claimed asylum in February 2025.

Despite the migrant claiming to be born in 2008, the Home Office judged that his probable age was 23 and his date of birth was July 1, 2001.

He asserted however to be 16 years old upon arrival, with his date of birth as July 1, 2008.

He said he has two uncles living in the UK and another cousin – with whom he had been speaking when he was in Calais.

He underwent an Initial Age Assessment with Liverpool City Council, which said that he was a ‘clear and obvious adult’ and aged between 23-25.

The migrant was assessed as being 25 when he arrived via a small boat because he has a ‘weathered’ face, a beard, and a ‘well-developed jaw line and cheek bones’

The age assessment said: ‘He has a well-developed jaw line and cheek bones, he has a prominent and protruding Adam’s apple and lines across the neck, he has facial hair on the upper lip and chin.

‘He has old acne scarring on the face, his eyes are sunken into his head and he has dark circles under the eyes.

‘He has deep forehead wrinkles and smile lines. There are signs of weathering on the face showing a change in skin tone.

‘He has broad shoulders going past the waist and large hands.

‘[ASB] has a confident demeanour and makes eye contact with both officers when being interviewed. He answered questioning in an assured manner.’

It concluded that: ‘I am fully satisfied that he is significantly over the age of 18.’

A second assessment added: ‘[ASB] appears to be 5ft 7 inches tall and is of a slim build. He has dark black afro hair that is long at the top and short on the sides.

‘[ASB] was observed to have facial hair around his chin area and upper lip. [ASB] was asked if he shaved, he said he did not, however a shaving shadow could be observed.

‘[ASB] had a visible Adam’s apple, deep forehead lines and prominent lines on his face and neck which can be attributed to adult maturity.

‘He did not present as a teenager would in a stressful situation, for example struggling to maintain eye contact or fidgeting.’

The case was taken for judicial review in April 2025 and ASB was given the right to challenge the decision to treat him as an adult in June 2025.

ASB showed his Facebook account, which said he was born in July 2008. 

His cousin gave evidence saying that they used to spend time together in a village and visit their grandmother in the holidays.

Upper Tribunal Judge Paul Lodato has now decided that the evidence was ‘compelling’ and ruled he was born in July 2008.

The judge said: ‘The concerns I have about the overly subjective approach adopted in the age assessment process is exemplified by the following remark “he did not present as a teenager would in a stressful situation, for example struggling to maintain eye contact or fidgeting”.

‘Firstly, there is simply nothing to underpin the notion that this is how a teenager might be reasonably expected to behave in this situation.

‘Even if some teenagers might be deferential under questioning by figures of authority, it cannot be a safe conclusion that all, or most, teenagers will behave in that way.

‘This would be an overly simplistic stereotype of teenage behaviour shorn of any statistical or empirical baseline.

‘When I step back and assess the overall evidential picture, I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that [ASB] is the age he claims to be and is a child.’