Duncan Lewis Featured in The Guardian (19 December 2025)

Duncan Lewis Solicitors has been featured in The Guardian following a landmark High Court ruling that found the Home Office has been unlawfully failing to protect vulnerable migrants in immigration detention centres.

The Case

Duncan Lewis brought this significant case on behalf of two detained migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh who were held at Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick between July 2023 and March 2024. Both clients experienced deteriorating mental health and serious self-harm while in detention, with periods spent on constant suicide watch.

The Judgment

Mrs Justice Jefford found that the systems designed to protect immigration detainees from inhuman and degrading treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights have been unlawfully failing for years. The judge identified a critical breakdown in the safeguarding process known as Rule 35, which requires medical practitioners to report concerns about vulnerabilities that may make someone unsuitable for detention.

Despite our clients being on suicide watch, neither had their suitability for continued detention properly assessed. The judgment revealed a troubling "disconnect" between the high numbers of people managed under suicide prevention procedures and the remarkably low number of Rule 35 reports being issued.

Mrs Justice Jefford stated: "Since at least the period covered by the Brook House inquiry there is a clear and persistent picture of a failure of the system intended to protect the article 3 rights of adults at risk."

Commentary

Lewis Kett, who represented our clients in this challenge, said: "Our clients welcome this important judgment that not only was their own detention and treatment at Brook House unlawful, but that their experiences are emblematic of a sustained failure by the home secretary over a number of years to properly run systems that safeguard vulnerable people in detention from serious harm. This has put countless immigration detainees with serious mental illness or suicidality at a real risk of harm."

The Impact

This judgment could affect thousands of vulnerable people who remain at risk in immigration detention. It exposes systemic failures that have been ongoing since at least 2017, when undercover BBC Panorama filming first revealed abuses at Brook House.

Duncan Lewis remains committed to holding the Home Office accountable and fighting for the rights of vulnerable individuals in immigration detention.

To read the full article in The Guardian, click here.

For more information email Lewis Kett or call: 02031141178

About Lewis Kett - Public Law Immigration Solicitor

Lewis Kett is a Solicitor in the Public Law Immigration Department at Duncan Lewis with extensive experience in Judicial Review challenges, particularly relating to the lawfulness and conditions of immigration detention. Lewis has been ranked as an 'Associate to Watch' in Chambers and Partners UK from 2021 to 2023, won the Legal Aid Newcomer Award at the 2018 LALY Awards, and in April 2016 became the first trainee solicitor to be awarded the Times Lawyer of the Week. He is accredited as a Level 2 Supervisor under the Law Society's Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme, leading his own team within the firm's Public Law department in Harrow.

About Duncan Lewis Solicitors

Duncan Lewis is one of the UK's largest legal aid firms, with a national presence and a strong commitment to access to justice. The firm's Immigration Department is renowned for its expertise in asylum, human rights, and immigration detention cases, providing vital legal representation to some of the most vulnerable individuals in society.