A BLACK Country family and concerned friends are awaiting the date of a final appeal against the deportation of an autistic young man to his Jamaican birthplace where he knows no-one.
Osime Brown, 21, who has been clinically diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome with the mental capacity of a 5-6 year old, currently resides in Stocken Prison, Leicestershire, where he is serving a five year sentence.
His deportation was set for December 3, until a last-minute appeal was lodged. That appeal has since been dismissed pending a final appeal with the Upper Tribunal, which is expected to be heard this month.
Osime came to the UK aged 3 to join his mother Joan Fairclough, a qualified mental health nurse, and his three older siblings.
He has been living in social care since 2014, and official court papers reports Osime committing a series of offences since the age of 16 which “culminated in a sentence of five years’ detention in a young offenders’ institution for robbery, attempted robbery and perverting the course of justice,” in August 2018.
No consultation
He has been relocated several times, allegedly without consultation with his family.
Foreign national offenders who receive a custodial sentence are referred to the Home Office for consideration of deportation action.
Osime’s case has been supported by the senior pastor of his family church, Barry Hutchinson, of Cornerstone Community Church in Dudley, family friend, Pauline Campbell and the Jamaican High Commission, who backed the previous appeal.
Mrs Campbell said: “Osime is quite slow in understanding things. The family framework gives (him) a safe and supportive environment where he can flourish and just be himself despite the mental health barriers. Withdrawing him from his family will break down the protection of a safe place to live and cause him to suffer greatly.”
Our brother is a loving caring person however he fell in with the wrong crowd….We would be distraught if our brother was to be sent back to a country that he knows nothing about.
Brown family statement
In a joint statement, Osime’s older siblings Semoy Thompson, Yonique and Camile Strachan, said: “Our brother is a loving caring person however he fell in with the wrong crowd as he is easily manipulated and has ended up where he is now. We would be distraught if our brother was to be sent back to a country that he knows nothing about.
“We are scared that he is going to end up dead as he is so trusting and does not understand the culture or the people’s nature.”
A report completed for the Immigration Tribunal by Chartered Psychologist John Hall last October, quoted Osime’s “general cognitive ability is within the extremely low range of intellectual functioning. Osime may experience great difficulty in keeping up with his peers in a wide variety of situations that require thinking and reasoning abilities.”
‘Mental health difficulties’
That report contains pictorial evidence of Osime self-harming since 2016, with multiple lacerations on his arms, and Mr Hall’s “concern over his mental health difficulties, troubled presentation and the fact he is suffering from high anxiety.”
Reportedly depressed and confused, it has been claimed that Osime attempted to commit suicide on 4 January and prison officials claim he continues to self-harm.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Foreign national offenders should be in no doubt of our determination to remove them, and since 2010 we have removed more than 50,000 of them. It would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.”
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23 Comments
How can we help are there any petitions, Facebook page etc?
This is heart breaking what is happening to human rights don’t immigration have any empathy and sympathy on this young man and his family what do they gain deporting a mental health person who needs help
PRAYING FOR OSIME’s FUTURE,SALVATION AND FAMILY.
Praying judges,government and police will come to repentance.
There is strong knowledge presented to the courts to evidence this young person at the time, did not actually commit any robbery but infact is recorded to have said “give him back the phone”. The young witness who gave this factual evidence was rejected by the courts. The children who stole the phone are serving community sentences while this innocent victim has already served 4 years in the hands of an UNJUST SERVICE … the actions of the judicial system are unlawful.
This is interesting. Someone with a mental capacity of a 5-6 years old committing those crimes is mind boggling. Was he made to commit such crimes or he did willingly? A 5-6 years old won’t commit those crimes robbery, attempted robbery e.t.c. Could it be that these types of questions, were why his appeals were being dismissed?
There are so many unanswered questions here. Hopefully all would be sorted out smoothly.
Praying they will see sense and put him back in the care if his family.
Where to sign to support stopping the deportation of this man.
Have known him before he got caught up in the wrong crowd. Law abiding family. Feel broken. Hope the home office will have mercy.
Injustice… Osime didn’t commit the crime that he’s been sentenced for. Where is the justice in this world.
Deport him as quickly as possible with the minimum expense to the taxpayer.
This is a very dissappointing story i work in the social care sector and a person with this low IQ should not be detained in prison he should be in the care of the local authority uf deported they are clearly sending him to a death sentence, this deportation must not go ahead he needs help, he deserves and needs help.
Jamaica would not be the greatest place to send a mentally ill person to, I live in Jamaica after leaving the uk and I have witnessed mentally ill persons homeless on the streets there doesn’t seem to be any kind of care for them, I pray the family manages to win there appeal but I must say if you do as a family you will need to pay more attention to him and keep him out of trouble you can’t continue to blame others for his predicament
I think you will find many mentally Ill people on the streets in England too. Those who are mentally ill or who have become mentally Ill because of their homeless situation. Osime is a vulnerable adult and needs to be in the care of a community home, not in prison. As a British citizen he should not be separated from his family in this way. Shocking.
This is disgusting. If osime had been safeguarded better he would not have fallen in with the wrong crowd. Now on top of doing a 5 stretch he will be taken away from his family on release. The government needs to stop failing autistic people once they are adults. I’m disgusted to be British
Jamaica is not the best place for this young man
Typical, I’m an autistic adult and the hoops I have to jump through to get nothing is astonishing. We are made to feel guilty for being born this way and no one actually really cares. I feel like people would rather me dead and i feel that way often too. When will we be seen as people too, will we EVER.
I empathise with this boys situation because our community also don’t do enough to help us, they want us to be too ‘normal so they don’t safeguard us in the way they should. I was left to my own devices too and to my detriment. Take responsibility and stop blaming and expected others to do what you should be doing. Get help if help is needed also something failed in our community.
I feel despair daily, can’t imagine this boys mind right now
Hey,
This is tragic and a travesty.
Just a note. A well-written article with a mistake:
“currently resides in Stocken Prison, Lincolnshire where he is serving a five-year sentence.”
I might be wrong, and I frequently am, however, I believe Stocken Prison isn’t in Lincolnshire. It’s in the county of Rutland according to Wikipedia. I was curious because I live in Lincolnshire, and I have never heard of Stocken Prison. Perhaps you mean Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre?
Here to help as a reader of The Voice Online,
This has been a serious case of miscarriage of justice. I for one have been involved on this journey with the family and can say without reservation that the system is corrupt and blindside the importance of truth regardless of race, colour and ethnic background.
It is a utter disgrace that some people who are in a position of authority abuse and deliberately deny individuals of their rights…clearly un-humane behaviour.
Due to the on- going nature of this particular case, not all of the details can be divulged. However you the reader will be shocked and sickened by some of the behaviour and treatment given to Osime Brown. ????
I am really torn by this story because it covers 2 issues that no one wants to talk about. Firstly what about the victims that these crimes robbery and attempted. Robbery are serious offences and I am sure to receive a 5 year sentence the matter would have gone to crown court for a jury to hear for a not guilty plea. The evidence would have been presented and deliberated and mitigating factors heard too including evidence around his learning difficulties. If he plead guilty then the judge hear all the evidence from both sides and would look at all the evidence in depth. Passing a 5 year sentence or indeed any sentence is a big deal.
The victims of these terrible crimes would either be in court or have their side of the story read out.
Next I go to who was looking after this boy. Who was safeguarding him. As a mother of 2 young men now my boys at teenagers could not breathe without me knowing where they were or what they were doing so they did not have the time to fall in with the wrong crowd. They were mine and my husbands responsibility and we took that very seriously. A child with additional needs needs additional support so where was his family. I truly believe we are quick to demand support from other parties when at the end of the day are children are down to us. We are very privileged in the uk to even have social care a lot of countries have nothing.
I feel very sorry for this young man but quite frankly it’s not the UK that has let him down.
Apparently you didn’t read the article correctly or with with an clear understanding of the issues..
Point- 1) This young man was in Care..(& Autistic- Easily manipulate)
2) The Victim & Independent Witness said Osime wasn’t at Scene of this Crime in Court Documents- Which was never submitted to be taken into consideration.
3) The Police were judge & jury lying all the way.. And manage to manipulate the Court. They intimidated anyone who went against what they wanted to happen.. Like a Militia.
Your children will do their own thing- (Unless you are their prison warden)-that will shock you beyond belief: ‘So don’t go counting your chickens before they hatch..’ Disappoint may be behind door 1.
Be careful how you prejudice/PREJUDGE others.. This Chilld was as much a victim in this case.
Until we see the relevant ASC specialists in place and look back at his education history. We will clearly see why failures of him being denied the right support in school and the lack of representation and understanding in autism in black community. We need to do more as a community. Family need help. Hope they get the support and I be happy to assist as I know too well the lack of understanding in the Black community as well as doubt of the condition being a white condition or excuse for bad behaviour. Not true if families have fought for assistance or have parents who deny the diagnosis as they want they child to fit in.
Have you all seen the mini series when they see us. If ever there was a case of innocent but guilty there it is. Osime is innocent, easily led. There were a lot more people involved. Why is it that they are walking the street and Osime is incarcerated. Mental age of 5 – 6, black and in care throughout no fault of his family. Think about it before you judge and draw your conclusion
Is there a campaign that can be set up to stop this deportation? There must be something that can be done to stop this corrupt Home Office from just booting vulnerable people out of the country. This kid needs a second chance and it seems they locked him up on an old ‘by joint venture’ clause which can no longer be used in court.