For
people from the UK’s African Caribbean communities, deaths in custody
and mental health care are, sadly, inextricably linked.
While by no means an exclusively black
issue, the cases of Kingsley Burell-Brown, Sean Rigg, Olaseni Lewis,
Alvan Thompson, Fitz Hicks, Mikey Powell, Roger Sylvester and, most
recently, Johnathan Andel is evidence that deaths in custody,
particularly within the mental health system, is hitting black Britons
hardest.
Johnathan Andel is just the latest in a
long line of healthy young black men who have lost their lives while in
the care of mental health services, leaving yet another heartbroken
family seeking answers for his death.
Their decision
to take on a David and Goliath-type battle to uncover exactly how their
loved one has died while in the care of the state has denied them any
opportunity to even begin the grieving process.
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