An inquest into the death of a detainee heard he killed himself
because of the fear of being sent back to Nigeria, a BBC report says.
Riliwanu Balogan was found hanged at Glen Parva Young Offender’s Institute in Leicester in 2011, a day after his 21st birthday.
The
inquest heard he had told staff he had nothing to live for. The hearing
coincided with the release of a report which said the centre had
improved but there were still problems.
The jury inquest, which
finished Thursday, January 24, 2013, heard Mr Balogan moved to the UK
when he was seven-years-old and spent much of his childhood in
institutions. He was transferred to Glen Parva, which holds men aged 18
to 21, in April 2011 to await deportation.
The morning he was found hanged on 8 May 2011 he was assessed by staff after cutting himself.
Paul
Mayfield, a senior prison officer, said at the hearing: "He told me he
had nothing to live for. He said ‘I’ll be deported back to Nigeria. I’ve
got no-one back there. I’ll be living in the slums."
He was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary after staff tried to revive him but died a week later.
The
hearing also heard he had a string of previous convictions and that at
the end of April he struggled to speak to a nurse because he was sobbing
so hard.
An interim report by the Inspectorate of Prisons showed
the institute was "making sufficient progress" since its last inspection
in 2009.
Inspectors, who visited after Mr Balogan’s death, said
they were pleased to see improvements in the management of vulnerable
prisoners and that suicide and self-harm was "generally well-managed".
But concerns were raised over dirty accommodation and the limited amount
of time detainees spent outside their cells.
On Thursday, the jury recorded a verdict of misadventure.
0 Comments