Three children from Vietnam who were trafficked to the UK and forced to work for criminal gangs have had their criminal convictions quashed.
The children were arrested after police raids on cannabis factories and later convicted of drug offences.
In an unrelated case, a woman from Uganda had her conviction for carrying false documents overturned.
The judge said the four should not have been prosecuted because they were victims of a "vile trade in people".
The Court of Appeal overturned their convictions and issued guidance to courts about how potential trafficking victims should be treated by the criminal justice system.
'Victims of crime'One of the children, now 18, said he had been brought to England in a freezer container. In 2011 he told police he was "relieved to see them" when he was arrested at a house in Bristol where cannabis was being grown.
The court found his criminal activities were "integral" to his status as a trafficked child.
Another victim, 18 at the time, was caught tending to cannabis plants in Harrow in 2009 after escaping from the care of Kent County Council two years earlier.
He sentenced for two years in a young offenders institution.
The third was sentenced to eight months' detention after he was found barefoot by police near to a house full of cannabis plants.
He admitted looking after the crop but said he did not know it was illegal.
Neighbours had reported seeing the 16-year-old being taken from the house with his hands bound by a group of men in Mansfield in March last year.
Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice, said: "This vile trade in people has different manifestations.
End Quote Lord Judge Lord Chief JusticeThis vile trade in people has different manifestations"
"Whether trafficked from home or overseas, they are all victims of crime. That is how they must be treated and, in the vast majority of cases they are, but not always.'"
The guidance issued makes it clear it is not for the courts to decide whether someone should be prosecuted.
But in cases where issues of trafficking arise, the court can stop the prosecution if it is thought the defendant is a trafficking victim and committing offences as a result of their exploitation.
Lawyers for the four had argued they should not have been prosecuted because they were all victims of trafficking.
Enforced control'In an entirely separate case, heard at the same time, a Ugandan woman in her mid-30s was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to possessing a false passport.
But the court heard she suffered "prolonged exposure to involuntary prostitution and enforced control" and that the passport offered her the prospect of escape.
Lord Judge told the court he understood that the Director of Public Prosecutions was to "reconsider" what discretion prosecutors have in relation to trafficking victims.
The appeals involved cases from Blackfriars Crown Court, Nottingham Crown Court, Bristol Crown Court and Harrow Crown Court.
The victims cannot be identified and are referred to only by their initials.
Speaking after the ruling, Wendy Hewitt from the Equality and Human Rights Commission's deputy director said: "This judgment will have a significant effect on the way child victims are dealt with by the criminal justice system.
"The court has made it clear the relevant authorities must properly investigate these cases before pressing charges, especially where children are involved. If it is not satisfied the court can stay the matter until this has been done."
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