Judges are always on the alert to spot misbehaviour by officialdom and breaches of individual rights. In one case that strikingly proved the point, an illegal immigrant was awarded £48,000 in compensation by the High Court for injuries he sustained due to the use of unlawful force during a botched attempt to deport him.
Following a period of immigration detention, the man had been placed on board a plane at Heathrow Airport to be flown out of the country. He was in the custody of escorts employed by a company that had been contracted by the Home Office to deal with such matters.
Believing that his deportation might be unlawful, he became distressed and asked to speak to the captain. A frantic five-minute struggle ensued, during which he was handcuffed and forcibly restrained by the escorts before being removed from the plane. The handcuffs dug into his wrists as he was hauled into the back of a van.
The man, aged in his 40s, suffered a number of injuries to his right wrist and back and his mental health deteriorated following the incident. Describing his treatment as outrageous, the Court noted that the escorts had shown a flagrant disregard for the terms of the contract, which placed tight restrictions on the use of force.
The Court described CCTV footage of the man being placed in the van as shocking. It was particularly disturbing that the handcuffs had been used to deliberately inflict pain as a means of asserting control over him. In using more than reasonable force, the conduct of the escorts was utterly unacceptable and demanded condemnation. Their employer was ordered to pay £30,000 in respect of the man’s physical and mental injuries and a further £18,000 in aggravated and exemplary damages.