JM v Secretary of State for The Home Department

Facts

The appellant, J.M., is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago who appealed under section 82 of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 against the Secretary of State's decision of 19 August 2025 refusing his protection and human rights claim; his partner and two minor children were dependants. He claimed to fear Gang 7 and its local leader, known as "Rambo". On 21 September 2023 gunmen attacked the family home in the Heights of Guanapo, Arima, killing four of his partner's siblings — aged 10, 14, 17 and 19 — and injuring five others, including the appellant and his partner, who required surgery. His case was that the gunmen had been seeking his partner's brother, Stephan, and, unable to find him, attacked the wider family, which had been threatened and repeatedly displaced ever since. The appellant remained in Trinidad and Tobago until November 2024, moving between family members' homes and continuing to work, before travelling to the United Kingdom and claiming asylum in November 2024, so that the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 applied. The respondent accepted his identity and nationality and that the four siblings had been murdered, but made adverse credibility findings, concluded he was not of adverse interest to the gang, and found there would be sufficiency of protection and, alternatively, a viable internal relocation alternative. The appeal was heard by CVP video link at Hatton Cross, the appellant giving oral evidence.