Suspensions of immigration custody staff doubled in 2022 amid claims of excessive force

The number of immigration custody staff suspended last year doubled, an investigation by the Sunday Mirror and Liberty investigates has found.

One officer repeatedly kneed a detainee in the head and told a concerned colleague “there are no cameras”, according to staff reports.

Another member of staff allegedly used “unlawful” force by kicking a self-harming 14-year-old boy who had crossed the channel from France.

Documents from disciplinary cases obtained by FOI reveal a sharp rise in the number of staff investigated over whether they were “fit and proper” to detain and deport migrants, including vulnerable asylum seekers.

They show 102 staff were suspended between January 2020 and mid-February 2023 – including 49 last year and seven in the first six weeks of 2023.

Almost half of the suspended staff then had their Home Office certification revoked (26) or resigned while under investigation (22).

44 were reinstated – some on appeal and condition of being demoted – while eight were awaiting an outcome as of February this year.

Private firms running detention centres and escort services said deportations were paused during the pandemic, leading a rise in suspensions last year.

But campaigners said our investigation shows problems such as excessive force and racism may be “endemic” in the immigration removal estate, which the Government is set to drastically expand.

Fourteen Mitie staff were suspended last year after the Sunday Mirror exposed racist messages in a private WhatsApp group. Mitie deploys guards to escort people during their deportation from the UK.

Officers traded jokes about Syrian refugees swimming to the UK and racial slurs about Chinese people.

New documents show six Mitie staff later had their certifications revoked, meaning they can no longer work as custody officers, while two resigned under investigation. Six have had their certificates reinstated, but no longer work for Mitie.

Other documents include officers’ written accounts of eight “use-of-force” incidents that led to a dozen staff suspensions.

In one, an officer was suspended after a “shocked” colleague blew the whistle.

The Mitie officer at Harmondsworth detention centre witnessed a colleague delivering “serval [sic] knee strikes” to a detainee’s head on 11 March 2021 after the detainee appears to have thrown a punch.

The whistleblower wrote: “I said to DCO [redacted] ‘chill out’ and ‘stop’ … but [he] then within a few seconds attempted to complete another series of knee strikes into [the detainee’s] face.” They asked them again to stop but “heard [the officer] say something like ‘there are no cameras’”.

The accused officer resigned under investigation but Mitie did not report the alleged assault to police.

A spokesperson said this was because the alleged victim “made it clear” they didn’t want to.

But guidance states a report should be made “even if the detained individual neither wants it reported to the police nor to make a complaint”.

In another case, inspectors reported viewing “disturbing” footage showing a Mitie employee kicking a mentally unwell 14-year-old boy “with some force” during an intervention to stop him self-harming.

The incident took place in June 2021 at Frontier House in Folkestone, which was housing unaccompanied minors arriving in small boats.

The boy was being supervised by three officers who all lacked training in how to safely restrain children.

Home Office disclosures show two officers involved in the incident were suspended but later reinstated while the third quit shortly afterwards.

Mitie said the officers were using restraint techniques and “claims that they were ‘kicking [the detainee]’ in an aggressive manner are untrue”. The suspension “does not amount to a finding of wrongdoing”.

In a third case in June 2022, inspectors saw footage of Mitie officers at Derwentside, the UK’s main IRC for female detainees, using “unapproved and risky” techniques on a 38-year-old woman.

Staff reported that the woman became “verbally abusive and aggressive” after being told to prepare for deportation but inspectors’ said the footage showed she was “offering no violence or aggression”.

An officer tried to handcuff the woman who then either, according to conflicting accounts, “chucked herself” or was “taken” to the ground.

Inspectors report that during the struggle officers used “unapproved” techniques on the woman’s “head and neck area” despite complaints “her neck was hurting”.

A guard wrote she “complained she could not breath[e]” as they tried to carry her away in cuffs using techniques inspectors described as “unusual” and which caused “considerable pain”.

One officer wrote that they later intervened when the woman tried to tie a ligature around her neck, screaming: “Just let me die”.

Two staff were suspended but were later reinstated after an investigation found correct practice had been followed.

The Refugee Council has estimated many thousands more asylum seekers could be detained and deported, including to Rwanda.

Two detention centres – Campsfield in Oxford and Haslar in Hampshire – are set to reopen to hold a further 1,000 male asylum seekers.

Alistair Carmichael MP, home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said: “This report raises serious questions about the risks involved in the government’s plans for mass detention of people seeking asylum.”

Alison Thewliss MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on immigration detention, said: “Rather than relying heavily on detention, we should be investing in comprehensive immigration policies that prioritise fair and efficient processing, accessible legal representation, and support for individuals as they navigate complex immigration systems.”

Gemma Lousley, policy manager at charity Women for Refugee Women, said: “The evidence of misconduct, use of force, inappropriate behaviour and racism uncovered by Liberty Investigates shows these issues remain endemic within detention centres.”

A spokesperson for Mitie said they expect high standards of their officers, who work “with care and compassion every day, often in challenging circumstances”.

They added: “People who do not uphold our values or act in the interest of those in our care have no place in our business.”

Breaches of their processes “are taken very seriously and subject to a robust investigation which may result in suspension or dismissal”.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “We work closely with our contractors to ensure the highest standards of staff and have robust disciplinary procedures in place.

“Where staff are found not to have met the professionalism required, the Home Office and our contractors will not hesitate in taking the appropriate action.

“All reports resulting from a use of force are reviewed to ensure techniques are proportionate and justified.”

What the data shows 

In total, almost half of the suspended staff included in the data went on to have their Home Office certification revoked (26) or resigned while under investigation (22).

44 were reinstated – some on appeal and condition of being demoted – while eight were awaiting an outcome as of February this year.

More than half were deportation escorts employed by Mitie (57).

26 were also employed by Mitie but worked at detention centres run by the firm at Heathrow, in Scotland and in County Durham.

The remaining 19 were employed by Serco at Yarl’s Wood in Bedfordshire as well as Brook House, near Gatwick airport, which it took over in May 2020. Four of these were reinstated after investigation.

The most common reason for suspensions, in 24 cases, was “inappropriate” comments and behaviour.

The case in which officers used racial slurs in a WhatsApp chat, exposed in the Sunday Mirror’s investigation last year, appears to have been recorded in this category.

In that case, officers traded jokes about Syrian refugees swimming to the UK and racial slurs about Chinese people.

Only one of all 102 suspensions – a different case – was recorded as a case involving “an allegation of racist behaviour”, raising the question of whether all allegations of racism are being captured accurately in Home Office data.

The second most common reason for suspensions were acts of confirmed and alleged physical violence – totalling 23 cases, ranging from “unlawful” use of force on duty to cases of GBH and domestic violence off-duty.

15 suspensions were for policy breaches ranging from a failure to report self-harm, to sleeping while on duty.

The remaining reasons included cases of unwanted sexual behaviour towards a colleague, drug offences, detainee escapes, bullying, fraud and robbery.

A version of this story was published with the Sunday Mirror.