A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has found ‘multiple failings’ and ‘missed opportunities’ contributing to the self-inflicted death of a Colombian national at an immigration centre.
Frank Ospina, 39, travelled to the United Kingdom to visit his mother, and was arrested for working, in violation of his visa requirement. He was taken to the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow on 3 March 2023.
Mr. Ospina informed staff that he would return voluntarily to Colombia and his mother delivered his passport to the centre. A few days later, he spoke with healthcare staff about his poor mental health due to his immigration status. The following week, he jumped from a balcony, and staff began suicide and self-harm prevention procedures (ACDT). He was placed under constant supervision until the next day, when he said he was no longer suicidal. However, he began to self-harm and his observations were increased to twice an hour. No personal items were removed other than razors.
The morning of 26 March, the on-duty detention custody officer falsely recorded visiting Mr. Ospina at 8:00am. CCTV revealed this did not take place, in violation of the ACDT. At 9 am, an officer checked his room, but could not see Mr. Ospina. He waited 13 minutes for more staff, who together found Mr. Ospina ligatured. He had been dead for at least two hours.
The Ombudsman’s report criticised the lack of urgent mental health care, ‘unacceptably inadequate observations’, and failure to assess whether continued detention was appropriate in the face of his mental health crisis. The report also notes that in the last review of Colnbrook in 2022, HMIP found ‘insufficient safeguards against the detention of detainees with suicidal thoughts’, and the subsequent recommendations were clearly not implemented effectively.
Gee Manoharan, Co-Director at the Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees, who was once detained at Colnbrook, said: ‘The system didn’t just fail Frank Ospina—it destroyed him. Detention centres like Colnbrook operate like prisons. His death mirrors the psychological and physical toll I witnessed firsthand… The mental health deterioration in detention is inevitable—it’s the outcome of deliberate cruelty and neglect.’