Family says failure to assess man’s mental health led to his death on Bibby Stockholm | Bibby Stockholm
The family of asylum seeker Bibby who died in Stockholm believe he would still be alive today if he had been properly assessed and treated before being placed on the barge.
Leonard Farruku, 27, died in the bathroom of his shared cabin on the barge on December 12, 2023. Bibby had moved there weeks before the then Conservative government began using Stockholm to house refugees.
At an inquest in Bournemouth this month, senior coroner Rachael Griffin concluded he died by suicide.
Farruku’s sisters, Marsida Keci and Jola Dushku, said in a statement on Monday: “After listening to all the investigative evidence, we firmly believe that Leonard was seriously mentally disturbed between July and December 2023 and required urgent assessment and treatment.
“Instead of being assisted by British authorities, he was placed in the hostile and completely unsuitable environment of the barge. We believe Leonard would still be alive today if he had received appropriate assessment and treatment in August 2023. We miss him every day.”
Farruku sought asylum in the UK in August 2022 and was placed at the Esplanade hotel in Paignton in March 2023. Staff there were alarmed because they were concerned he did not appear to be mentally well.
He was referred to a local mental health service in Devon for an assessment of his mental state, which was scheduled for August 12, but he did not attend and the assessment was not rescheduled. The Home Office was alerted to concerns about his mental health but no assessment was carried out before he was moved onto the barge.
Between July and November 2023, Home Office contractors at the hotel submitted 11 incident reports about Farruku’s disruptive behavior; At least three stated that staff believed he had mental health issues. Ten of these reports were sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Farruku’s sisters said they believed there was evidence that their brother was mentally disturbed before killing himself, although the coroner found there was “insufficient evidence” that Farruku suffered from low mood or mental impairment, which contributed to his decision to take his life.
“Hotel staff who saw Leonard every day knew there was something seriously wrong with his mental state,” they said. The consultant forensic psychiatrist who provided expert evidence to the inquest was Dr. They added that Dinesh Maganty concluded that there was sufficient evidence that Farruku suffered from a combination of psychotic mental illness and an emotional mood component.
“Apparently everyone who had repeated contact with Leonard at that time knew that he was truly unwell,” Farruku’s sisters said.
On 3 November, the day Farruku was transferred to the barge moored in Portland, Dorset, the local authority expressed immediate concern about the move based on what they had been told about Farruku’s mental health. This was reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the authorities did not take any action in response. The coroner described it as a missed opportunity.
Farruku’s sisters said: “We are shocked that the Home Office did not look at their own security databases when deciding whether it was safe to move Leonard onto the barge, even after an email from the local authority raising concerns about Leonard’s suitability. It seems clear to us that a man presenting in this way should never have been placed on the barge.”
Christina Bodénès, the family’s lawyer, said: “Leonard’s case is a tragic example of the dangers of the Home Office’s policy of placing vulnerable asylum seekers in inappropriate accommodation without an appropriate system to assess their vulnerability and risk.
“The Home Office had a wealth of information to suggest Leonard was seriously unwell at the time they decided to place him on the barge, but took none of it into account.
“Given the current government’s commitment to expanding the use of large-scale spaces for housing asylum seekers, it is extremely worrying that the Home Office still refuses to acknowledge during Leonard’s investigation that they should have been concerned about Leonard’s mental health when he was transferred to the barge.”
The Ministry of Internal Affairs was contacted for opinion.
