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Old Bailey hears how G4S guards restrained Mubenga before his death (5 November 2014)

Date: 05/11/2014
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Old Bailey hears how G4S guards restrained Mubenga before his death

A jury at the Old Bailey has heard how G4S guards ignored the cries of deportee Jimmy Mubenga as they restrained him while loading him onto a flight at Heathrow Airport.

The Guardian reports that 46-year-old Mubenga – who was being deported back to Angola – cried out that he was unable to breathe, according to witnesses also on the flight.

The G4S guards “pinned” him in his seat for 15 minutes the court heard – Mr Mubenga collapsed and died in October 2010.

He had been restrained for more than half-an-hour before he went “motionless” and “starry eyed” according to the statements of other passengers. Mr Mubenga was taken off the flight and died shortly afterwards.

Three G4S guards are on trial for manslaughter.

The trial at the Old Bailey is expected to take up to two months and nine airline seats have been installed in the courtroom to help the jury understand the limited space on board the flight and how it feels to be restrained.

The prosecutor told the court that the guards held Mr Mubenga “in such a position [bent forward] that his ability to breathe properly was inevitably impaired”.

“Each officer would have known from their training – and from common sense – that keeping someone in such a position was likely to cause a person harm; yet they did so over a prolonged period and did so ignoring the repeated shouts from Mubenga that he was in trouble.”

The three G4S guards on trial – Terrence Hughes, 53, Colin Kaler, 52 and Stuart Tribelnig, 39 – deny manslaughter.

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