I am still fighting for justice for my son Dexter Bristol. 

Since his death on 29 March 2018 I have been fighting for a full and fearless inquest which would look into the effect of the Home Office’s ‘hostile environment’ policies on Dexter, which placed him under enormous stress when it wrongly required him, a Windrush migrant, to prove his settled status in the United Kingdom. 

The first inquest was quashed and a second inquest is to be held on7^th October 2019.

I am asking for your help again to raise funds to enable my legal team to represent me at the second inquest, so that a full and fearless investigation into his death can finally be conducted. Please contribute now and share this page with your friends, family and on social media.

I believe this inquest will be important for thousands of members of the Windrush Generation who have been affected by the “hostile policies”, many of whom have suffered enormous stress, the long term harmful effect of which I believe, the Home Office still hasn’t properly appreciated.

Background

Dexter was a Windrush migrant. He came to the UK in 1968 aged 8 and lived here ever since. Dexter, along with thousands of other Windrush migrants and their children, was caught by the ‘hostile’ environment that the Home Office policies had created for all immigrants, especially since 2012.

In late 2016 Dexter was told he was unable to start the jobs he had been offered, because he did not have an official document to prove his settled status in the UK. With my help, he made extensive efforts to prove he had settled status. This placed him under enormous stress which a cardiologist has stated contributed to him having a fatal heart attack. 

When he died on 29 March 2018, he still had been unable to prove his right to be in the UK.

Case Update

I am very grateful to everyone who contributed to my CrowdJustice campaign last year, to raise the funds to enable my legal team to represent me at the first inquest into the death of my son Dexter.

Before the inquest last year, my legal team obtained a report by a cardiologist which indicated that the stress Dexter was under as a result of his immigration problems contributed to his death.

The inquest into Dexter’s death was concluded on 28 August 2018. Before it was concluded, I felt that I had no option but to walk out of the inquest after Assistant Coroner Dolman ruled that he would not invite the Home Office to be represented at the inquest despite my concerns of the effect on Dexter, of the Home Office’s hostile environment policies and he refused to look at the cardiologist report.

After I left, the Assistant Coroner concluded the inquest in half a day, instead of 2 days, and found that Dexter had died of natural causes. He made no comment about the fact that Dexter has spent the last 18 months of his life under great the stress of fearing he would be deported from the UK to country he hadn’t visited since he was 8.

The Assistant Coroner’s behaviour towards me and my barrister during the inquest hearing was also deeply upsetting. I found his conduct intimidating, bullying, and disrespectful, and I therefore submitted a complaint about his behaviour to the Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office on 31 August 2018, asking for an apology. 

I was informed only last week that as the Assistant Coroner had resigned, no disciplinary action could be taken against him and they closed my complaint.

After the travesty of the first inquest, I sought to quash it and have a fresh inquest by bringing a judicial review of the Assistant Coroner due to the way in which he conducted the inquest. After my JR claim was lodged in November 2018, the Assistant Coroner indicated that he would not be contesting the claim, and so I succeed in obtaining an Order from the Court quashing his inquest conclusion and ordering that there be a fresh investigation before a different Coroner.

The second inquest into Dexter’s death will now be held from 7^th – 10^th October 2019.

This time, the Home Office is a party to the inquest and the new Coroner will call the cardiologist to hear his evidence about how stress contributed to Dexter’s death. The Senior Coroner, who is now responsible for Dexter’s inquest, has told me that she will conduct a full, fair and fearless inquiry into my son’s death. I am therefore hopeful that the questions I have about the stress that Dexter was under because of the Home Office’s hostile environment policies will finally be answered.

However, I have been told by the Legal Aid Agency that I am not eligible for funding for the inquest hearing as Dexter’s death wasn’t directly caused by a Government official, but by a Government policy.

How much do I need to raise and why?

I am a retired NHS nurse and not well off, and need £3,500 to enable my legal team to represent me at the second inquest into the death of Dexter.

How can you help?

Please contribute what you can – everything makes a difference. 

Thank you for your support and for helping me make this campaign a success. I can’t do it without you.