Deportee Jimmy Mubenga unlawfully killed by G4S guards on Heathrow flight

 
Loving: Jimmy Mubenga and his wife Adrienne Makenda Kambana
9 July 2013

A man who was being deported to Angola was unlawfully killed when he was restrained by private security guards on a British Airways flight, an inquest jury ruled today.

Father-of-five Jimmy Mubenga stopped breathing just moments before take-off at Heathrow Airport. The 46-year-old was pronounced dead in hospital after the plane was stopped on the runway to seek urgent medical care.

Three G4S guards — Terence Hughes, Stuart Tribelnig and Colin Kaler — accompanied Mr Mubenga on the flight in October 2010, but said he was restrained when he attacked one of the guards soon after boarding the plane.

Lawyers may consider either prosecuting the guards for manslaughter or bringing a charge of corporate manslaughter against G4S.

Mr Mubenga died of cardio-respiratory collapse, where the heart stops beating and a person stops breathing, the inquest found. It heard evidence from passengers on the flight that Mr Mubenga had called for help as the three guards restrained him for more than half an hour.

Several passengers said they heard him shouting that he could not breathe, with one of the guards allegedly replying: “Yes, you can.”

As the plane began to taxi on to the runway the guards said Mr Mubenga became tired and stopped shouting. The guards said they realised something was wrong and the plane returned to the stand and paramedics were called.

In evidence, the guards claimed they had not heard Mr Mubenga saying he could not breathe and insisted he had been resting his head on the seat in front and intermittently forcing it down towards his knees as he was being restrained. The three guards were arrested “on suspicion of criminal offences” relating to Mr Mubenga’s death, but last year the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to press charges.

An inquest jury of seven men and three women at Isleworth crown court today recorded a majority verdict of nine to one of unlawful killing after four days of deliberations following an eight-week hearing.

The CPS said today it would reconsider its original decision not to bring criminal charges in the case.

The Angolan was being deported after serving a prison sentence for assault.

Mr Mubenga’s wife, Adrienne Makenda Kambana said: “The witnesses said they heard Jimmy asking for help. Nobody helped him. Jimmy should be here, but because he didn’t get help, that’s why he’s not here.”

She said that although Mr Mubenga had served a prison sentence for assault, he did not deserve to die for his crime: “He was a human being, a loving person. He did not deserve his death. His death is worse than an animal.”

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