D643

2. D643 was born in St Vincent and the Grenadines.¹ He confirmed to the Inquiry that he joined the British Army in 2001 and served as a Commonwealth soldier for eleven and a half years, undertaking three tours of service.² He was discharged in August 2012³ and his leave to remain expired in September 2012.⁴ As a result of a number of traumatic combat-related incidents, he began to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2007, when he returned from a tour of service, and turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism.((  D643 22 February 2022 2/20-23; DL0000228_0002 paras 7 and 10) D643 was convicted of a criminal offence and went to prison.⁵ D643 was convicted of a criminal offence and went to prison.⁶
3. After serving his sentence, he was detained under immigration powers from October 2016 to May 2018 and spent the majority of this time in detention at Brook House.⁷
4. D643 felt that being detained at Brook House exacerbated his PTSD.⁸ The things he saw and heard, such as fighting and loud, unexpected noises, left him feeling like he was being “mentally tortured”.⁹In January 2017 and March 2018, he was assessed by Brook House doctors, who agreed and informed the Home Office that continuing detention would worsen his symptoms,¹⁰ but he was not released.¹¹ He said:

“Each time I heard a door banging I thought it was an explosion in a war zone and I would throw myself to the floor and I would become breathless and panicked.”¹²

5. During his detention, he experienced chest pains and was taken to hospital.¹³ At the hospital, he was handcuffed. When he needed to go to the toilet, he was attached by a long chain at the wrist to a custody officer. He said:

“I cried the entire journey back to Brook House because I felt so humiliated and degraded by this experience.”¹⁴

6. In May 2018, D643 was released from detention.¹⁵ After his time at Brook House, he initially found it difficult to engage with health professionals.¹⁶ Reflecting on his experience, D643 said: “I endured psychological torture at Brook House, the effects of which I am still suffering.”¹⁷ He told the Inquiry that, following his release, he brought a claim for unlawful detention, which the Home Office agreed to settle in 2019.¹⁸

1. DL0000228_0001 para 1[↩]
2. D643 22 February 2022 2/3-10[↩]
3. DL0000228_0001 para 5[↩]
4.    DL0000228_0002 para 10[↩]
5. DL0000228_0002 para 10 [↩]
6. DL0000228_0002 para 10[↩]
7. DL0000228_0003 paras 14-15[↩]
8. D643 22 February 2022 3/10[↩]
9. D643 22 February 2022 3/11-14 and 18/11[↩]
10. DL0000220_0001; DL0000220_0003-004; HOM032403[↩]
11. DL0000228_0037 para 135; DL0000228_0063 para 213[↩]
12. DL0000228_0020 para 80[↩]
13. DL0000228_0031 para 116[↩]
14. DL0000228_0031 para 117[↩]
15. DL0000228_0077 para 248[↩]
16. DL0000228_0079 para 260[↩]
17. DL0000228_0079 para 259[↩]
18. DL0000228_0077 para 248[↩]