Amir Safi’s Age Claim Rejected Hours Before Fatal Collision

14 Nov Amir Safi’s Age Claim Rejected Hours Before Fatal Collision

Posted at 14:47h in Acting for migrants, Christina Juman, Inquests and Public inquiries, News by Abby Kirk

The inquest has concluded into the death of Amir Safi, an Afghan national, who had sought asylum in the UK. He died of injuries sustained in a collision after he was seen walking on an M1 slip road at about 4:30am on 28 April 2023, hours after a social worker told him that they agreed with the Home Office that Amir was an adult, and not a child.

Amir’s family were represented by Cian Murphy instructed by Christina Juman of Deighton Pierce Glynn.

The Area Coroner, Ms Susan Evans, heard that Amir had arrived in the UK on 15 November 2022. The Home Office recorded his date of birth as January 2000. He sought asylum, and was accommodated, alongside adults, in the Novotel Hotel in London Eaton.

On 27 April 2023 a social worker attended the Hotel to undertake a “Brief Enquiry” in relation to Amir’s age. At the conclusion of this assessment the social worker concluded that Amir was an adult and that she agreed with the date of birth recorded by the Home Office.

The social worker told the Coroner’s Court that Amir had shown her a photograph of a Tazkira, an Afghanistan identity document, on his phone, but she was unable to read it as it was not in English. The Home Office provided evidence that they had no record of an age dispute raised or an age assessment carried out.

The inquest heard that Amir described the outcome of the Brief Enquiry as an “injustice” and that he was “very quiet and subdued and appeared worried” when he was told that the social worker did not accept he was a child. The Coroner read evidence from a roommate that Amir was very sad and “hopeless” and “helpless”.

CCTV evidence was that Amir left the Hotel at about 4:20am, and he was seen about ten minutes later, walking up a slip road. At about 4:38am, a driver raised the alarm, when he saw Amir on the ground on the slip road. A Forensic Collision Investigator gave evidence that Amir had likely been struck by one or more vehicles. Emergency services attended, and Amir was taken to hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

The Coroner declined to include the date of birth, 1 January 2000, that the Home Office had recorded for Amir, on his Record of Inquest. She considered a photograph of the Tazkira, which gave Amir’s date of birth as 26 October 2006, but Amir’s family were unable to send the original to the UK, and the document could not be verified. Ultimately, the Coroner concluded that, in relation to the date of birth, there were “too many unknowns”.

Earlier, she had heard evidence that if Amir had been known to be a child, he would have been taken from the Hotel, albeit not necessarily that day. If there had been concerns about him, they could have been raised with the Home Office Safeguarding Team, and with staff who were present at the Hotel to support the residents. In Amir’s case, this was not done, as it was not deemed necessary.

After consideration of “suicide”, and “road traffic accident”, the Coroner decided that “road traffic collision” was the most appropriate conclusion as to Amir’s death.

The inquest has been reported by outlets including the BBC (here), The Guardian (here), The Independent (here).