Inquest blasts immigration centre"s "shambolic" records in US man"s death

Harmondsworth immigration detention centre. Personnel there testified that they obtained restricted mental wellness awareness training. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Pictures

An inquest into the death of an American tourist who was detained on arrival at Heathrow has criticised an immigration centre’s medical data technique for currently being “shambolic”.

Returning a verdict of death by natural leads to compounded by neglect, the jury at West London coroner’s court thorough a catalogue of errors in Brian Dalrymple’s care.

The 35-12 months-old US citizen flew into the Uk in June 2011. He was stopped by Uk Border Agency personnel due to the fact his behaviour appeared uncommon. Dalrymple had schizophrenia and dangerously higher blood pressure.

He was carrying only a little cardboard box containing a coat, a minimize-throat razor and $ two,000 in cash. Immigration officers denied him leave to enter the nation and eliminated him to Harmondsworth elimination centre. Just before he could be returned to the US, he claimed asylum.

The jury’s narrative verdict stated: “The United kingdom Border Company contacted the House Workplace at Harmondsworth to request a psychiatric assessment and repeated the request on a quantity of occasions. No action was taken. The US Embassy were not notified of Mr Dalrymple’s detention.”

It continued: “Throughout Mr Dalrymple’s detention at Harmondsworth, healthcare record-maintaining was shambolic.”

Dalrymple was detained for 6 weeks. A handful of days ahead of he died he was transferred to another detention centre, Colnbrook, run by the personal operator Serco, but with out his healthcare information.

Workers at Colnbrook identified him as currently being mentally sick but by the time they had arranged a psychiatrist, Dalrymple was dead. His higher blood strain had brought on an aortic rupture.

The inquest had earlier heard that the physician at Harmondsworth had not had any induction training and did not know of the duty health-related practitioners have to inform the House Workplace of detainees with health-related motives for currently being released. There were no computerised health-related data all the detention centre’s records have been handwritten.

Detention centre staff from Harmondsworth testified that they received limited psychological overall health awareness training. 1 mentioned she felt underneath-equipped to deal with the vulnerable people she had to seem following. Two officers explained they had been not concerned about folks in Harmondsworth “muttering to themselves” simply because a great deal of individuals did that.

Dalrymple was taken to Hillingdon hospital nearby but then discharged himself against medical guidance. No clinician saw him following his discharge. His mother was represented at the inquest by Jocelyn Cockburn, of the law firm Hodge Jones &amp Allen, who said: “This situation shines a light on the perilous state of immigration custody in the Uk. It is anything that the British government can no longer disregard.

“There is a worrying trend emerging in these varieties of circumstances, specifically with the enhanced privatisation of what have always typically been public functions, that the standard care and healthcare remedy of detainees gets to be fragmented and specified essential actions are ignored, typically major to devastating consequences and it has to stop now before much more lives are lost.”

Deborah Coles, co-director of the organisation Inquest, which supports family members in coroner’s courts, stated: “This is a shocking death of a mentally and physically sick man who died in his cell as a outcome of corporate neglect and indifference. The catalogue of failings are not special to this situation but expose the plight of people held in immigration detention and the systemic neglect of detainees’ mental and bodily ill well being, as evidenced by the high numbers of deaths, suicide attempts and self-harm.”

A jury at the inquest into the death of Muhammad Shukat, who died at Colnbrook a month earlier, also concluded that neglect contributed to his death.

Responding to the verdict, Lorraine Dalrymple, Brian’s mom, mentioned: “The Uk Border Agency took away my son’s freedom that day and by putting him in a detention centre therefore accepting responsibility for his care. It would be a care so fragmented and disorganised that his psychological problem would deteriorate to the stage of him losing his dignity … and lastly due to lack of appropriate healthcare ultimately led to his death.

“I have accepted my accountability concerning my son’s death. I ignored my mother’s intuition and listened to other folks regarding England not being a third planet nation and Brian being protected … This was a mistake I will have to live with for the rest of my life … If I had acknowledged what I know now of what was happening, I’d have contacted absolutely everyone achievable, carried out every little thing attainable to support my son. My son did come house, but in a box.”

Inquest blasts immigration centre"s "shambolic" records in US man"s death