José Gutiérrez claims he was mistreated as G4S security guards attempted to deport him at Heathrow
The UK Border Agency has launched its second investigation this month into allegations of mistreatment of a man being forcibly deported through Heathrow after being refused asylum.
José Gutiérrez, 37, from
Colombia, needed hospital attention after G4S security guards escorted him on to a British Airways flight. He was subsequently removed from the plane before take-off.
His experience – on the evening of 6 October – came only a few days before
Jimmy Mubenga, a 46-year-old Angolan refugee, collapsed and died after employees of the same private security firm put him on to another BA flight at Heathrow. Gutiérrez's partner, Teresa Ramsey, contacted the Guardian after reading of Mubenga's death.
Gutiérrez, now being held at Dover immigration removal centre, claims he was mistreated in the stairwell outside the aircraft where there were no cameras.
The Guardian has seen his NHS medical notes, which show that he was admitted to Hillingdon hospital's accident and emergency department in the early hours of 7 October with swollen and tender wrists and soft tissue injury.
A letter written the same day by a doctor at the Colnbrook removal centre observed that Gutiérrez had multiple bruising or petechiae (purple skin spots caused by broken blood capillaries) on his torso, back and arms as well as tenderness over his lower abdomen.
Gutiérrez has reported his claims to the Ukba and the Independent Monitoring Boards, the watchdog responsible for overseeing prisons, immigration removal centres and short-term holding facilities at airports. G4S has launched its own investigation. Gutiérrez has now been informed he will be deported next Monday.
In a statement issued through the Home Office, the Ukba said: "This matter is subject to internal investigation and we are unable to comment. We expect the highest standards of integrity and behaviour from our staff and contractors. We take all allegations of mistreatment seriously and they are reported routinely to the appropriate authorities, including the police."
Gutiérrez said he had arrived in Britain in 1992 after refusing to join paramilitary groups that had tried to recruit him. He said that other members of his family had since been killed in the conflict, and that he fears he would be targeted if returned to Colombia.
His request for asylum in Britain was rejected, he explained, after he was given a criminal record for becoming involved in a fight.
Gutiérrez said that security guards had handcuffed him and put on a leg restraint before physically carrying him on to BA flight 247 to Sao Paulo. He claims he sustained injuries to his left hand, lower back and pelvic region outside the plane.
After he was put into a seat, he threatened to harm himself with razor blades he had smuggled on. At this point the decision was taken to remove him from the flight.
Speaking from Dover detention centre, Gutiérrez said: "The [security guards] tied my leg with a kind of belt and carried me up the stairwell. I was shouting 'please don't do this to me. I have a daughter here.' [Afterwards] they took me to Colnbrook.
"One of the officers there saw me in a state and called the nurse who examined me. She said they should take me to accident and emergency at Hillingdon hospital.
"The hospital gave me an x-ray on my left hand and checked my injuries. My soft tissue [around the pelvic area] has been bruised. I have since been passing blood. I have also seen another doctor in the detention centre."
A spokesman for the hospital, near Heathrow, confirmed that Gutiérrez had been treated in the A&E department on 7 and 8 October. "He was discharged on both occasions," the spokesman said.
Victor Fiorini, who works with the Dover Detainees Visitor Group, said he had known Gutiérrez for six months. He saw him at the Dover immigration removal centre a week after the failed deportation. "He was very shaken," Fiorini said. "He had bruises on his back and his stomach. He couldn't walk properly. There were also bruises on his arm. He tells me he has nightmares now."
In response, a G4S spokesperson said: "We can confirm that a complaint has been lodged with Ukba by a Mr Gutiérrez regarding an attempted deportation conducted by G4S officers in October 2010. A formal investigation has been launched by Ukba, which G4S will co-operate with fully. In addition G4S has launched its own investigation into the alleged incident."
Three security guards who work for G4S have been arrested and bailed by police investigating the circumstances of Jimmy Mubenga's death. British Airways declined to comment on the case.
G4S describes itself as "the world's leading international security solutions group" and "the second largest private employer" on Earth. It has 595,000 employees.
Founded in 1901, it has grown to incorporate numerous security companies including Securicor, Group 4, and Falck in Europe, as well as the US-based Wackenhut Corporation and Armorgroup. It operates in 110 countries.
In the UK it runs immigration detention centres on behalf of the UK Border Agency at Dungavel in Scotland, Oakington near Cambridge, as well as Brook House and Tinsley House on the perimeter of Gatwick Airport. Oakington is due to close next month.
G4S manages four prisons on behalf of the Prison Service: HMP Wolds in Hull, HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, HMP Parc in Bridgend and HMP Rye Hill near Rugby.
The firm is the main contractor providing services to escort those removed from the UK on repatriation flights overseas. Among its international security customers are Baghdad international airport.
