Molly Steele

I’m a paralegal in our Public Law and Human Rights department, specialising in cases against central and local government on behalf of victims of trafficking, children in care and those who are unlawfully detained. I also have a particular interest in migrant rights.

I work closely with solicitors who specialise in judicial review challenges and civil actions for damages. Our most frequent defendant is the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) but we also regularly bring claims again local authorities and police forces. Since joining in October 2024, I have gained significant experience represent those seeking recognition and protection by the government as victims of modern slavery, including taking client instruction, preparing letters before claim and witness statements.

I also have experience challenging age assessments of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and representing individuals who are unlawfully detained within immigration removal centres in public and private law claims against the Home Office.

Key Highlights

• We represented a lesbian woman who had been trafficked from Africa and across several countries to the UK. The client had been forced into sex work and became pregnant as a result of her exploitation. She was abandoned in the UK after her exploiters discovered she was pregnant. The client gave birth, and the child was born with sickle cell disease. The client received a negative reasonable grounds decision, which we successfully challenged. We further assisted the client with a witness statement, and she received a positive conclusive grounds decision. We are now assisting with an ongoing challenge by judicial review to refuse to grant her Temporary Permission to Stay.
• We represented a client who had been trafficked from Vietnam and across several countries to the UK. The client was subjected to forced labour and sexual exploitation and was subsequently found in a cannabis house in the UK by the police. The client received a negative reasonable grounds decision and a negative reconsideration decision, which we challenged by way of judicial review. In the lead up to issuing, the client was unlawfully detained in an immigration removal centre, which we also challenged. The client was subsequently released and received a positive reasonable grounds decision.
• We represented a client with learning difficulties who had been trafficked from Hungary to the UK, on the promise of paid work as a cleaner but was subjected to sexual exploitation. The client had received a negative conclusive grounds decision. As a result of our work, the Home Office agreed to reconsider their decision and have since issued a positive conclusive grounds decision.
• We secured support and accommodation for a recognised victim of trafficking with complex medical needs, who had been made street homeless and destitute after a flawed decision to exit him from the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC). The client was refused re-entry into the Modern Victim Care Contract, despite no accommodation or funding being available to him. The client was extremely vulnerable, and his mental and physical health deteriorated as a result of being street homeless, leading to emergency hospitalisations and potential limb amputation. As a result of our work, the client was successfully re-entered into the MSVCC.
• We are currently investigating a potential civil claim against the Home Office on behalf of a minor who was sexually abused by an adult in Home Office accommodation.
• We represented an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child from Yemen, who had fled his home country due to fear of conscription. The client claimed to be 16 years old and had a copy of his birth certificate to support this. The client was assessed by the National Age Assessment Board as 18 years old and was subsequently placed in accommodation for adult asylum-seeking men. As a result of our work, the Claimant was placed in child-appropriate accommodation, and the National Age Assessment Board agreed to conduct a new age assessment and issue a fresh decision.