A detainee at Brook House has been awarded over £200,000 for unlawful detention and violations of their human rights.

The detainee was held at Brook House for three months, despite having a legal right to be there. In their earlier evidence to the Inquiry, they said: ‘Every day I would wake up in Brook House and I would be fearful for my life… I felt extremely unsafe around these people and could not rely on the staff to protect me – it was out of control.’

The claimant was awarded £203,995 in damages, for unlawful detention, being subjected to degrading or inhuman treatment, and in compensation for PTSD and other psychiatric injuries. The violations of article 3 were systematic and ‘very grave’ This award represents the highest amount as of yet designated to a victim of abuse at Brook House.

The Brook House immigration removal detention centre has a history of abuse, for which the Home Office has repeatedly faced criticism. The Brook House Inquiry identified a range of failings, including dysfunctional safeguarding systems, the misuse of force, failure to protect vulnerable detainees, explicit racism, degrading and abusive language, and lock-ins. In combination, this amounted to inhuman or degrading treatment, the responsibility for which lay primarily with the Home Office and private security contractor G4S.

In trial, the Home Office had disputed the reliability and admissibility of the findings of the Brook House Inquiry. The Judge found this position ‘contradictory and unprincipled’, and noted that the government had broadly accepted the findings of the inquiry:  ‘In the light of that admission… it is difficult to see how it can be contended that the Court should not place weight on the findings made by the Inquiry.