The adult male had been aged 18 at the time but deliberately tried to 'deceive' authorities by claiming he was a teenager, an asylum tribunal found.
In 2022, an 18-year-old Iranian asylum seeker entered Britain claiming to be a child, supported by the British Red Cross who argued he was a child because he cuddled a teddy bear. A tribunal determined he was 18 upon entry, contradicting his claim, and fined him £16,000. The judge found inconsistencies in his testimony and questioned the validity of his story.
