Stories of Detainees

Ahmed had been in detention for 7 months. I had been visiting Ahmed for two months, since I became a volunteer with the London Detainee Support Group in September 2004. On the request of Ahmed, I attended his first bail-hearing last November. This is my experience of what happened.

Virtually every day Ahmed would fax the Home Office asking them to release him. He would often share the Home Office’s curt replies with me when I visited; he had little hope of getting bail and every time I saw Ahmed there was a visible deterioration in his emotional health. He started to self-harm by cutting his arms with a razor blade. He was also taking a lot of sleeping tablets and on one occasion tried to take an overdose.

As soon as Ahmed had a date for his hearing he called and asked if I could attend for moral support. I agreed and called his solicitor to say that I would be happy to give evidence on Ahmed’s behalf if his barrister thought it would help. The bail summary (the Home Office document which gives details of why a detainee should not receive bail) came through the day before the hearing. Ahmed’s solicitor called Ahmed and I separately and went through all the points the Home Office had given for why Ahmed should not be given bail: misbehaviour in detention, not co-operating with removals procedures and that a travel document would come soon.

The night before the bail hearing I called Colnbrook. After the usual palaver of trying to get through I managed to talk to Ahmed. He didn’t think he had a chance of getting bail after hearing what was in the bail summary and he was angry that it included so many lies. I said not to lose hope, that he did have a chance and if he wasn’t successful this time, he could apply again in a month. I reminded him that he had a good barrister and that this would help a lot. I tried to encourage Ahmed to get some sleep so he would have a clear head for the day ahead.

I arrived at the hearing centre in Feltham at 9 am. At 2pm we were finally in court. Ahmed, looking tired and nervous, was escorted into the court room. The hearing lasted over an hour and a half. When I was called to give evidence, I explained how Ahmed’s mental health was deteriorating and tried to portray Ahmed as a normal ‘human being’ who was finding it very difficult to cope with having his freedom taken away from him. I mentioned how the custody officers at Colnbrook talked of him as a ‘model’ detainee and that many of the Home Office accusations in the bail summary did not match the person that I had got to know over the past couple of months. Fortunately, the Home Office representative did not seem very well prepared, was not able to clarify a number of queries the adjudicator had, the key one being, what evidence the Home Office had that a travel document would be forthcoming.

When the adjudicator returned after a short adjournment, it soon became clear that the he would consider bail, as long as he was satisfied with Ahmed’s sureties. Fifteen minutes later and it was all over. The adjudicator had granted bail. Bail conditions were strict – Ahmed would have to stay at the home of one of his sureties every night and report to the local police station twice a week. If either of these conditions were broken then £4,000 bail money would be lost. Ahmed sat their quietly, probably not quite believing what was happening – after seven months in detention he was being released – something that he had not dare contemplate up until now. Ahmed was escorted out of the room and we were told to wait while he went to collect his personal belongings. Five minutes later Ahmed emerged alone, with no escort, carrying two clear bin liners of personal belongings – he was free.