The UK’s supreme court has ruled that the government “falsely imprisoned” asylum seekers who are now entitled to damages for their loss of liberty.

One of the appellants, Mohamed, 37, arrived in the UK in May 2012. He had been imprisoned and tortured in his home country of Sudan and managed to escape to Europe, crossing the Mediterranean in a flimsy boat before arriving in Italy where he was fingerprinted.

Mohamed was subjected to a brutal attack in Italy and was forced to sleep in the street, only surviving thanks to food donations from a church.

“I felt very unsafe in Italy,” he said. “My life was in danger in Sudan and on my journey. It continued to be in danger in Italy. I wanted to reach the UK where I would be safe. But as soon as I arrived I was fingerprinted and detained.”

Mohamed was released and then detained again in November 2012. He was detained for a third time during the period covered by the supreme court ruling – in February 2016 for one month.

His case is an example how the Home Office detains people under Dublin III rules, with the intention of removing them from the UK quickly but where in reality it can drag on for years and involve more than one period of detention.

Mohamed has a diagnosis of PTSD as a result of being tortured in Sudan, compounded by the trauma he suffered during his detention in the UK.

“I am still suffering from a lot of trauma,” he said. “I’m on antidepressants and am having counselling sessions to help me cope. I have many nightmares and sometimes shout in my sleep and jump up because I dream that I am back in Sudan or back in detention in the UK.

“When I was locked up in detention in the UK every time the guards locked or unlocked a gate I felt that I was back in the prison in Sudan where I was tortured. I’ve never committed any crime in my life but I was locked up in the UK just because I was fingerprinted in Italy. I am frightened because I know the Home Office could detain me again at any time.”

He said since arriving in the UK in 2012 the Home Office has moved him 11 times to a variety of areas including six different places in the London area, Wigan and two places in Wales.

“We don’t have any choice about where the Home Office moves us to; we just have to go. All these moves make it very difficult for me to access my trauma counselling. Each time the Home Office moves me I have to set up new counselling sessions. This is very difficult for me. I need to have this counselling because my trauma is continuing.”

Last month Mohamed received a letter from the Home Office saying his asylum claim would now be considered “substantively” in the UK by the Home Office. It has taken the Home Office more than seven years since he arrived in the UK to make the decision to deal with his case here rather than trying to send him back to Italy under Dublin III. He does not know when he will get a decision on his case from the Home Office.

“Today’s judgment is very good news for me and for so many people I know who, like me, were locked up in the UK under Dublin III. I hope the Home Office will finally accept my asylum claim and that I can get compensation as a result of this ruling and at last move forward with my life.”