£38,000 for raped asylum seeker held unlawfully

An asylum seeker was awarded £38,000 damages in the High Court today for unlawful detention over a six-month period.

A judge ruled that Home Office immigration authorities mishandled the claim that the woman was tortured and raped in Cameroon before fleeing to the UK. Judge Kenneth Parker QC said there were "serious shortcomings" in the treatment of the 36-year-old woman, who for legal reasons can only be referred to as "PB". He said PB was held at Yarl's Wood detention centre, Bedford, despite rules designed to ensure "that those who may have been victims of torture were not held in detention".

PB claimed asylum in December 2006, saying she had been tortured by gendarmes. She was screened by immigration officers and sent to Yarl's Wood. She later told a women's group she had been raped twice in Cameroon.

Because of the rape and torture claims, the judge added £6,000 "aggravated damages" to her basic award of £32,000.