A 39-year-old Colombian migrant took his own life at an immigration detention centre in the UK after ‘multiple failings’ by officials, an inquest jury has found.
Frank Ospina took his own life 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.
The coroner examining the death of Frank Ospina said he had been let down by the state “in numerous ways” which were “utterly regretful”.
Offering its condolences, the Home Office said steps had been taken since Mr Ospina’s death to improve safeguards for individuals in detention.
The engineering graduate, came to the UK in late 2022 to visit his mother, who had settled here, and to visit prospective universities.
Having decided to instead enrol on a master’s course in Spain, which was due to begin in May 2023, he took a short-term job washing dishes, his family say. But as a foreign national he did not have the right to work in the UK.
He was arrested in an immigration raid and placed in detention where he suffered a mental health crisis and on 26 March 2023 was found dead at the Harmondsworth facility, having strangled himself.
The inquest jury concluded that he had killed himself.
The jury found that medical staff who should report any detainee suspected of having suicidal intentions failed to submit a rule 35.2 report which should have meant Frank Ospina’s released from detention was never considered by the Home Office.
The Ospina case highlighted ongoing concerns about the management of immigration centres, six years after a BBC investigation revealed the abuse of detainees at Brook
“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.”