SR v London North West University Healthcare Trust [2024]
Christina acted for a recognised refugee woman who had fled rape and gender-based violence to seek asylum in the UK, but who was unlawfully charged over £5,000 for essential medical treatment and was pursued aggressively for this debt. Due to the debt, SR was also wrongly recorded as an NHS debtor by the Home Office and unlawfully detained at the airport whilst returning home to the UK. The Trust agreed to expunge the debt, cease all recovery action against SR and notify the Home Office that SR should not be treated as an NHS debtor. SR is now seeking compensation for unlawful detention.
SA v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024]
Christina acted in an urgent judicial review for a Palestinian asylum seeker who had been unlawfully released from immigration detention to street homelessness and destitution during winter 2023. Christina secured urgent interim relief for SA resulting in an immediate grant of accommodation and subsistence support for him.
Leonard Farruku , deceased [2025]
Christina Bodenes and Mark Scott acted for the family of Leonard Farruku, an asylum seeker from Albania who died by suicide on the Bibby Stockholm barge, having been placed there by the Home Office on a no-choice basis. The inquest found that a key opportunity was missed by Devon Partnership NHS Trust to intervene and support Leonard with his deteriorating mental health before he was moved to the barge. The inquest also found that the Home Office did not consider available information about Leonard’s mental health before he was moved to the Bibby Stockholm, or share any of that information with welfare staff on the barge. The case was covered widely in the national press, and Bhatt Murphy’s press release can be found here.
BS v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024]
Christina acted for a refugee family of a mother, father and two young children in a challenge to the Home Office’s delay in deciding their family reunion application of over 1 year. The delay was having a severe impact on the mental health and relationships of all the family members. The Home Office subsequently made a decision on the family’s application within 6 weeks, and the family were reunited in the UK.
HA v Home Office [2025]
Christina acted with Janet Farrell for HA in a successful civil claim arising from his unlawful immigration detention and the imposition of electronic monitoring, a curfew and GPS surveillance in the community. The claim settled for £60,000.
SA v MPS [2025]
Christina acted in a successful civil claim for breaches of Articles 3, 8 and 14 ECHR for young refugee SA who was blinded in an acid attack by a perpetrator who had attacked him three months earlier, but whose actions the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) had failed to investigate at the time of the first assault. The claim settled for £10,000 and SA received a formal letter of apology from the MPS. The case was covered in the national press – linked here.
Tekle (dec’d) + ors v London Borough of Croydon [2025]
Christina acted for the parents and estate of Alexander Tekle (deceased), an asylum-seeking young person who tragically took his own life whilst in the care of London Borough of Croydon social services. The local authority failed to safeguarding and mitigate the serious risks posed to Alex by his deteriorating mental health conditions, history of self-harm and dependence on alcohol. The claim settled for £25,000.
