Colombian died at UK immigration centre after begging to be sent home

by · Mail Online

A Colombian migrant took his own life at an immigration detention centre after 'multiple failings' by officials, an inquest jury has found.

Frank Ospina, 39, died in March 2023 at the facility near Heathrow where he was being held despite allegedly begging to go home to Colombia.

The jury at his inquest found that his case should have been reviewed on account of his worsening mental health, which may have led to a decision to release him on bail.

Mr Ospina, an engineering graduate, first came to the UK in late 2022 to visit his mother and tour several universities.

After deciding instead to begin a master's course in Spain, he look a temporary job washing dishes - according to his family - before being arrested during an immigration raid and found to be working illegally.

Frank Ospina, 39, died in March 2023 at the facility near Heathrow where he was being held despite allegedly begging to go home to Colombia
The jury at his inquest found that his case should have been reviewed on account of his worsening mental health, which may have led to a decision to release him on bail

He suffered serious problems with his mental health while behind bars at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre and was placed on suicide watch.

Mr Ospina was found dead on March 26 last year after strangling himself.

The inquest jury ruled he killed himself.

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Following Mr Ospina's death, his family told the BBC that he had been actively asking to be deported.

'They put pressure on him by saying he was going to stay there, while Frank was asking to be released,' said his brother-in-law, Julian Llano.

'He said he could pay his ticket out - we could pay - but they said he would stay there for months.'

An adviser for the charity Bail for Immigration Detainees said they had a call with Mr Ospina on March 21 in which he insisted he was willing to be removed from the UK under a voluntary return scheme and was not trying to avoid deportation, according to the BBC.

However, he was never removed from the UK.

Following a two-week inquest that delivered its findings yesterday, the jury found staff at Harmondsworth had failed to officially escalate concerns that Mr Ospina was a suicide risk.

Mr Ospina suffered serious problems with his mental health while behind bars at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre and was placed on suicide watch

This process, known as a Rule 35(2) report, can prompt a 'detention review' under which senior Home Office officials are required to decide whether the individual should be released.

Jurors also criticised a decision to subject him to 'inappropriate and unnecessary' visiting restrictions, which saw him separated from his mother when she came to visit him after a suspected suicide attempt four days before he died.

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This 'contributed to the deterioration of his mental health and incurred further stress', they found.

Staff at the centre were also criticised for their 'unacceptably inadequate observations' of Mr Ospina on the night of his death, which failed to identify he was no longer in bed.

He was eventually found out of sight, having hanged himself.

The jury ruled: 'There were a number of missed opportunities to provide more appropriate and responsive care given the severity of his mental health crisis.'

A Home Office spokesman said: 'We offer our sincere condolences to Mr Ospina's loved ones, and since his death in 2023 a number of actions have been taken to improve the safeguards for individuals in detention, including an increase in staffing numbers, training and guidance for staff.

'The new government is focused on ensuring actions are taken to improve conditions in detention facilities, including reviewing the current process for communicating risk and vulnerability of detained individuals.

'We will carefully consider the coroner's recommendations.'

Staff at the centre were also criticised for their 'unacceptably inadequate observations' of Mr Ospina on the night of his death, which failed to identify he was no longer in bed

A spokesperson for Mitie, which runs the Harmondsworth detention centre, said: 'Our sympathies are with Mr Ospina's family at this difficult time.

'The physical and mental wellbeing of those in our care is of the utmost importance to us. We accept that the decision to place Mr Ospina's family in a closed room for their visit was wrong and not in accordance with our policies and procedures, and we have apologised for this.

'A number of measures have already been implemented and we will continue working with the Home Office and Practice Plus Group to address the matters raised by the Coroner.'