Full investigation is key in decisions to prosecute victims of trafficking

Child victims of human trafficking who commit a crime could have charges against them dropped if they can prove that the offence was committed as a result of exploitation, following a recent Court of Appeal case in which the Equality and Human Rights Commission intervened.

The Court of Appeal’s ruling follows an appeal against the conviction of T, a 14-year-old Vietnamese boy, on which we reported last month. T had been forced to work in a cannabis factory after being trafficked to England in the back of a refrigerated lorry. The Court of Appeal scrubbed T’s conviction and that of three other trafficking victims, whose cases were heard together.

T was arrested following a raid on the factory and sentenced to 12-months in a Youth Offender Institute after eventually pleading guilty, although police had referred his case to the National Referral Mechanism, a framework for identifying and supporting victims of trafficking.

He began to self-harm and was eventually re-assessed after the NSPCC intervened. He was then transferred to local authority care. However, he went missing and is now suspected to be back with his traffickers.  

The Court of Appeal accepted the Commission’s submission that there is that is a heavy onus on the authorities to thoroughly investigate trafficking allegations, so that unnecessary prosecutions do not happen.

The Court said that the test regarding a prosecution decision was:

• Is the victim a child? There must be a determination of age.
• Are they a victim of trafficking?
• Was the crime consequent on and integral to the exploitation they were subject to? i.e. is it a manifestation of the exploitation?

“Trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery and a serious violation of human rights,” said Commission deputy director Wendy Hewitt. “This judgment will have a significant effect on the way child victims are dealt with by the criminal justice system and reinforces the fact that a primary concern must be the best interests of the child.”

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