A BEARDED asylum seeker with deep forehead wrinkles is 17 and should be treated as a child, an immigration judge has ruled.
The Sudanese migrant was assessed as being 23 to 25 when he arrived via a small boat in February 2025.
He had a weathered face, acne scars, sunken eyes and a confident demeanour, Liverpool council officials said.
A second age assessment claimed he “did not present as a teenager would in a stressful situation, for example struggling to maintain eye contact or fidgeting”.
At one point he raised his voice and appeared to argue with the interpreter, it was said.
The migrant, known only as ASB, was given the right to challenge the decision to treat him as an adult.
He claimed to be 16 when he first claimed asylum, citing his Facebook account which said he was born in July 2008.
He was backed by a cousin who told a hearing at the Immigration and Asylum Chamber that they used to spend time together in a village and visit their nan in the holidays.
Upper Tribunal Judge Paul Lodato described the evidence that he was born in 2008 as “compelling”.
He said it was an “overly simplistic stereotype of teenage behaviour” that they should be deferential when questioned by authority figures.
He ruled: “I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities ASB is the age he claims to be and is a child.”
