Judge orders return of disturbed boy to London after ‘unlawful’ dispersal

The High Court has ordered that a disturbed child be returned to
north London after he was sent to Middlesbrough as part of the
asylum seeker dispersal programme.

Mr Justice Richards said that there was evidence that the boy had
relapsed into a state of acute disturbance since being sent away
from London, where he had been making good progress at school.

He had been so traumatised when he arrived in Britain from Africa
in July last year that he was initially believed to be mute, the
court heard last Friday.

The boy had been living in London with his father, who has Aids,
for about a year when the National Asylum Support Service (Nass)
relocated them. They were given three days to pack their bags and
on 8 July they were moved to a part of Middlesbrough described by
their counsel as a “sink” estate.

Following a violent, racially motivated incident the pair were
moved on again last month to nearby Stockton-on-Tees.

Justice Richards said the decision to remove the father and son
from London was unlawful as it “didn’t really touch upon” the
youngster’s needs.

However, Nass could not be faulted on its stance that suitable
medical treatment for the father was available in the north east,
he said.

The court ordered the Home Office to find a home for the pair in
Haringey, north London, within 14 days.