Labour activists are urging the Home Office not to deport a severely autistic man to Jamaica, where they say he could die with no support network in place. Osime Brown, 21, has no recollection of the Caribbean island and no family living there, having moved to the UK when he was just four years old. He is currently serving a five year prison sentence in Stocken Prison in the East Midlands for the theft of a mobile phone with a group of friends. Witnesses said he had asked the other teenagers he was with to stop the street robbery, but he was convicted under the joint enterprise law, which critics say has disproportionately criminalised many young black men. A final appeal against Osime’s deportation was due for March before being kicked into the long grass due to the coroanvirus pandemic. A number of Labour MPs including John McDonnell and Nadia Whittome are understood to have taken an interest in the case and a petition to keep him in Britain is now nearing 22,000 signatures. Its founder and CEO of support group Autistic Inclusive Meets Emma Dalmayne told Metro.co.uk: ‘He can’t be deported over there, he shouldn’t be deported to any country where he’s got no support or no family links or anything, it’s essentially taking someone very vulnerable and dumping them in an environment that is pretty hostile.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/
Comments