The family of an asylum seeker who died on the Bibby Stockholm believe he would still be alive today had he been properly assessed and treated before being placed on the barge.
Leonard Farruku, 27, died in the bathroom of his shared cabin onboard the barge on 12 December 2023. He had been moved there weeks earlier, after the then Conservative government began using the Bibby Stockholm to house asylum seekers.
At an inquest in Bournemouth this month, the senior coroner Rachael Griffin concluded that he died as a result of suicide.
Farruku’s sisters Marsida Keci and Jola Dushku said in a statement on Monday: “After listening to all the inquest evidence we firmly believe that Leonard was severely mentally unwell between July and December 2023 and in need of urgent assessment and treatment.
“Instead of being helped by the English authorities, he was placed in the hostile and completely unsuitable environment of the barge. We believe that if Leonard had received proper assessment and treatment in August 2023, he would still be alive today. We miss him every day.”
Farruku sought asylum in the UK in August 2022, and in March 2023 was placed in the Esplanade hotel in Paignton. Staff there raised the alarm because they were concerned he seemed mentally unwell.
He had been referred to a local mental health service in Devon for an assessment of his mental state, scheduled for 12 August, but did not attend and the assessment was not rescheduled. The Home Office was alerted to concerns about his mental health but no assessment was conducted before he was moved to the barge.
Between July and November 2023 Home Office contractors at the hotel submitted 11 incident reports about Farruku’s disturbed behaviour, at least three stating that staff believed him to have mental health problems. Ten of these reports were sent to the Home Office.
Farruku’s sisters said although the coroner found “there was insufficient evidence” that Farruku was suffering from low mood or a mental disorder, which contributed to his decision to take his life, they believed there was evidence their brother was mentally unwell before he killed himself.
“The hotel staff who saw Leonard every day knew that something was seriously wrong with his mental state,” they said. They added that Dr Dinesh Maganty, a consultant forensic psychiatrist who provided expert evidence to the inquest, concluded there was sufficient evidence that Farruku was likely to be suffering with a combination of a psychotic mental illness with an affective mood component.
“It seems that everyone who had repeated contact with Leonard at that time knew that he was really unwell,” said Farruku’s sisters.
On 3 November, the day Farruku was transferred to the barge, moored in Portland, Dorset, the local authority raised an urgent concern about the move on the basis of what they had been told about his mental health. This was relayed to the Home Office but officials took no action in response. The coroner identified this as a missed opportunity.
Farruku’s sisters said: “We are shocked that when deciding whether it was safe to move Leonard to the barge, the Home Office did not look at their own safeguarding database, even after an email raising concerns about Leonard’s suitability from the local authority. It seems obvious to us that a man presenting the way he was should never have been placed on the barge.”
Christina Bodénès, the solicitor for the family, said: “Leonard’s case is a tragic example of the dangers of the Home Office’s policy of placing vulnerable asylum seekers in unsuitable accommodation without having a proper system in place to assess their vulnerability and risk.
“The Home Office had a wealth of information indicating that Leonard was seriously unwell at the time they made the decision to place him on the barge, but took none of this into account.
“Given the current government’s commitment to expanding the use of large scale sites to accommodate asylum seekers, it is extremely concerning that the Home Office still refused to accept at Leonard’s inquest that they should have been concerned about Leonard’s mental health when he was transferred to the barge.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “This was a tragic incident and our thoughts remain with Leonard’s family and everyone affected. The coroner has delivered their findings and we are now carefully considering them.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
