Family say brother who died on barge would still be alive if given proper care

The sisters of an Albanian man who took his own life on the “hostile” Bibby Stockholm have said their brother “would still be alive” if he had been given “proper mental health assessment and treatment”.

Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin found that the Home Office “missed opportunities” to assess the mental health of Leonard Farruku, 27, before he was moved to the barge at Portland Port, where he died in the bathroom of his room on board on December 12, 2023.

His sisters Marsida Keci and Jola Dushku have questioned how their brother, who they said had struggled with his mental health since the death of their parents, was allowed to be moved to the Bibby Stockholm on November 3 2023.

The inquest heard that Mr Farruku was previously accommodated at the Esplanade Hotel in Paignton, Devon, and began to show aggressive behaviour in July 2023.

Ms Griffin said that the Home Office had criteria that any resident who had more than primary health care needs, either medical or around mental health, should not be accommodated on the barge, because of its remote location at Portland Port in west Dorset.

She said that a number of incident reports at the Devon hotel recording Mr Farruku’s behaviour, as well as concerns for his mental health were made by the hotel safeguarding team in July and August.

But the coroner, who recorded a conclusion of suicide, said that these were forwarded to the Home Office but were not placed on its Atlas immigration case-working system, and there were “missed opportunities” for assessing his health before he was transferred.

In a statement Mr Farruku’s sisters said: “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.”

Christina Bodenes, 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, or that they should have taken swift action when Torbay local authority raised urgent concerns about his suitability to live there.”

Deborah Coles, director of the charity Inquest, said: “We can all agree that everyone, especially those seeking safety, should be treated with dignity and humanity.

“Yet this inquest has laid bare the fatal consequences of placing people like Leonard Farruku on barges in de facto imprisonment where safeguards exist only on paper.

“These harmful policies isolate people from community, support and healthcare, and deny them dignity.

“Amid racist rhetoric around immigration, we must remember the real human cost.

“We won’t forget Leonard, and we won’t stop demanding justice for all those failed by inhuman and racist immigration policies.”

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.”