On 11 January an unnamed 27-year-old Polish man was found dead in Morton Hall immigration removal centre in Lincolnshire, the first death this year and the 29th death in immigration detention since 1989.
It was reported by the Unity Centre that the man was found hanged in his room at the centre. He had apparently been refused bail before Christmas as there was no surety and his girlfriend, who was heavily pregnant at the time of the hearing, was unable to travel. Their baby was apparently born on the day of his death. Morton Hall, unlike most other removal centres, is run by the Home Office rather than a private company.
Of the three people who died in immigration detention last year, one died at Morton Hall, just six weeks ago, on 6 December. According to the Unity Centre, the 49-year-old man, possibly from Sierra Leone, who had been in the UK for 27 years, had served a six-month sentence for using false documents and had subsequently been in immigration detention for two years. A few days before his death he had become ill and was taken to hospital and later died.
Continue reading “(Institute of Race Relations) Morton Hall: another death in immigration detention”