UK: Death of Joy Gardner
01 January 1991
UK: Death of Joy Gardner
artdoc May=1994
The Home Office and the Metropolitan police have announced a
joint review of procedures for dealing with deportation,
following the death of a 40-year-old Jamaican woman, Joy Gardner,
who was manacled and gagged by a special deportation squad of
police and immigration officials.
Officers from the SO1(3) squad had burst into the north London
home of Joy Gardner, whose child was born in the UK and whose
parents live here, at 7.40am on 1 August. Following a struggle
with the police, she was taken to hospital in a coma from which
she never recovered. Ms. Gardner's family say that she died after
being suffocated by a gag.
Following Joy Gardner's death, the head of the Metropolitan
police, Mr. Paul Condon, announced that the specialist SO1(3)
squad would be suspended pending a review. An inquiry by the
Police Complaints Authority has also been launched. The Labour
MP for Tottenham, Mr. Bernie Grant, is calling for a full public
inquiry into Joy Gardner's death.
Following Ms. Gardner's death, over 1,000 people staged a
demonstration in Tottenham which led to scare-stories in the
newspapers, particularly the Evening Standard, suggesting that
the protests would inevitably lead to `race riots'. Many
newspapers also attempted to depict Ms. Gardner as a dangerous
and violent character, reiterating the message of Teresa Gorman,
Tory MP for Billericay, who told parliament that: `She had been
bumming on the social services for years... she had cost the
taxpayer an enormous amount... If she had gone quietly, none of
this would have happened' (Guardian 7.8.93, 9.8.93, CARF no. 17,
September/October 1993).
Other deportation cases cause alarm
Following the death of Joy Gardner, it has emerged that the Home
Office has employed private security firms to carry out
deportations. A 31-year-old Nigerian woman, Dorothy Nwokedi, who
lost her appeal to stay in Britain, was escorted from Gatwick
airport to Lagos, by a company called Airline Security
Consultants in July. Ms. Nwokedi says she was forcibly
restrained, her legs tied, her mouth sealed with sellotape, and
her thumbs broken in the ensuing struggle. She was placed in a
special cubicle at the back of the plane while her 4-year-old
daughter was held separately in the first class section. Airline
Security Consultants, based in Eastbourne, east Sussex, is not
registered with the Inspectorate of the Security Industry, a
government-backed scheme set up two years ago to raise standards
among security guards. Neither is the private firm affiliated to
the industry's two main bodies, the British Security Industry
Association and the International Professional Security
Association (Guardian 31.8.93, Voice 7.9.93). Another case to
emerge is that of a Zairean man who was taken illegally to the
airport, two days after Joy Gardner's death. When he stripped to
his underwear in protest, immigration officers forcibly manacled
him with plastic cuffs behind his back. He was eventually
returned to prison, but not before he received injuries to his
head and body. His thumb was also dislocated (Carf No. 16,
September/October 1993).
Refugees denied educational opportunities
London's Westminster City Council is refusing education grants
to asylum-seekers living in Britain in a move which could be in
defiance of a House of Lords judgment given ten years ago.
Westminster requires immigrants to possess unrestricted leave to
remain in the UK for at least three years before their courses
start to qualify for university or college grants. Previously,
three years uninterrupted residence was sufficient. The
solicitor for two of the twelve students affected by the rule has
applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the Council's
action (Guardian 21.8.93)
IRR European Race Audit, Bulletin no 6, December 1993. Contact:
Liz Fekete, Institute of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke Street, London
WC