A BBC editor has been hired as an expert witness to help at least 15 Somalian criminals including rapists fight their deportation.
Mary Harper, Africa editor for the World Service, has been criticised by judges over the objectivity and accuracy of her evidence in some of the cases.
Harper has given evidence in asylum cases dating back to 2013. Seven of the known cases resulted in the refugee being permitted to remain in the UK. Expert witnesses can be paid up to £2,500 for producing a report in cases funded by legal aid. Judges twice questioned Harper’s objectivity and in a third case described her evidence as “speculative”.
