THE Home Office violated the human rights of a young Vietnamese man said to be the victim of human trafficking by releasing him without protecting him from retrafficking, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.

“TDT” was found by police in Kent in the back of a lorry in September 2015, along with 15 other young men and boys, six of whom were also Vietnamese, and placed in immigration detention.

But lawyers from Simpson Millar challenged the Home Office’s treatment of TDT, saying that he was “significantly under 18” and had failed to be recognised as a potential victim of trafficking.