31 January 2020

Before HM Coroner Chinyere Inyama
West London Coroner’s Court
Bagleys Ln, Fulham, London SW6 2QA

Opening 3 February 2020 and listed until 6 March 2020 

The inquest into the death of Prince Kwabena Fosu is to reopen on Monday 3 February. Prince died at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) on the morning of 30 October 2012. The inquest had been postponed pending consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of criminal charges against the private companies responsible for Prince’s care.

Prince, a Ghanaian national, was 31 when he died. He is survived by his wife, child and parents. Prince had been in Harmondsworth for just six days and was segregated throughout that time, before being found naked and without bedding in a cell peppered with debris.

The CPS declined to bring corporate manslaughter charges, but on 14 April 2017 authorised criminal charges against GEO Group UK Ltd, which then ran Harmondsworth, and Nestor Primecare Services Ltd, which provided healthcare services. The charges were for a breach to section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. However, that decision was reversed 18 months later meaning that no criminal proceedings would be brought. Primecare has since gone into administration.

The family look forward to the full consideration of the actions of all those who were tasked with Prince’s welfare. They hope that the inquest will finally determine the circumstances and cause of Prince’s death, and go some way to ensuring that no other detainee dies in such inhumane and degrading conditions.

Over a year before Prince’s death, Brian Dalrymple, 35, died in Colnbrook IRC in July 2011, having been transferred there from Harmondsworth just a few days earlier. His death involved many of the same staff, and the inquest in 2014 uncovered failures in recognising and responding to signs of mental ill health and distress.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information and to note your interest, please contact INQUEST Communications Team: 020 7263 1111 or [email protected]; [email protected]

The family of Prince Kwabena Fosu is represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Kate Maynard of Hickman and Rose solicitors and Nick Armstrong of Matrix Chambers. They are working with INQUEST Senior Caseworker, Selen Cavcav.

Other Interested persons represented are GEO, The Home Office, The Chief Constable of Northampton Police, the Independent Monitoring Board, Jersey Practice, Dr Wesley Joseph, Dr Sharif, Dr Singh, Dr Navqi, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, Mitie.

Timeline:

• On 30 October 2012 Prince Fosu died in Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre.
• On 15 May 2014 the police provided the CPS with a case file, for consideration of criminal charges.
• On 3 April 2017 the CPS announced their decision that criminal charges will be brought against GEO and Primecare under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
• On 30 October 2018 the CPS reversed that decision.

The inquest into the death of Brian Dalrymple, 35, concluded in June 2014 and found his death was as a result of natural causes contributed by neglect. 

Data on deaths of immigration detainees

• Since 2000 the annual number of deaths of immigration detainees has ranged between one and five. Yet in 2017, there were a total of 11 deaths of immigration detaineesheld in immigration detention, prison, during deportation, or within four days of leaving detention.
• In 2018 there were two further deaths of immigration detainees and in 2019 there was one death. See INQUEST Submission to Immigration Detention Inquiry 2018for more information. Also see INQUEST data on the deaths of immigration detainees in England and Wales.

Recent inquests into deaths of immigration detainees:

• Carlington Spencer, 38, was originally from Jamaica. He was transferred to Morton Hall IRC around May 2017, shortly after the conclusion of a short prison sentence. The inquest jury found that he died on 3 October 2017 as a consequence of a stroke and identified series of failings which possibly contributed. See media releases, November 2019.
• Bai Bai Ahmed Kabia, 49, who was originally from Sierra Leone and had indefinite leave to remain in the UK, died in hospital on 6 December 2016, following his collapse at Morton Hall IRC. The inquest concluded his death was a result of a brain haemorrhage, identifying missed opportunities that could possibly have prevented his death. See media release, September 2019.
• Marcin Gwozdzinski, a 28 year old Polish national died at Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre in September 2017. The inquest in June found serious failings which contributed to his death. See media release, June 2019.
• Amir Siman-Tov, a 41 year old Moroccan national, was being held at Colnbrook IRC when he died in the early hours of 17 February 2016, having ingested painkillers the day before. An inquest found that he died as a result of ‘misadventure’ with a critical narrative conclusion. See media release, May 2019.
• Tarek Chowdhury, 64, was killed by another detainee who was experiencing serious mental ill health in Colnbrook IRC on 1 December 2017. The inquest concluded finding that the man who killed Tarek had been inappropriately placed in immigration detention, alongside numerous other critical failings. See media release, March 2019.
• Michal Netyks, a 35 year old Polish national, was being held as an immigration detainee in G4S run HMP Altcourse and died a self-inflicted death on 7 December. The inquest concluded finding with serious criticisms of the immigration deportation process. See media release, December 2018.
• Branko Zdravkovic, a 43 year old Slovenian national, died a self-inflicted death at The Verne IRC. The inquest identifying serious failings, with the coroner writing a critical report to prevent future deaths highlighting failings in ACDT and Rule 35 procedures. See media release, November 2018.