Several Doughty Street members act in Manston Inquiry preliminary hearing

The second hearing in the Manston Inquiry was heard today, on 25 September 2026.

The Inquiry, chaired by Sophie Cartwright KC, is examining the detention thousands of vulnerable asylum seekers, including small children and torture and trafficking victims, at a short-term holding facility in Kent in Autumn 2022. The Chair heard an update on the Inquiry’s progress and the disclosure having revealed evidence of children and babies being held in deplorable, dirty and grossly unsanitary conditions, without access to medical provision, nutritious food and basic toiletries, as well as repeated instances of ‘casual’ violence, racist and demeaning language used by contractors and staff on the ground.

Laura Dubinsky KC and Agata Patyna represent a group of 75 former detainees, instructed by Duncan Lewis. Shu Shin Luh, Antonia Benfield and Tom Stoate represent 49 detainees instructed by Wilsons, Bindmans and Gold Jennings.

Rowena Moffatt is instructed on the Counsel to the Inquiry Team.

The Chair will set a date for Inquiry hearings to commence in 2027.  The Inquiry’s terms of reference can be found here.