‘He was going out of his mind’: Mother of Windrush man who died after months of immigration problems demands justice

The mother of a Windrush man who died suddenly after being classified an illegal immigrant is seeking funds to pay for legal representation ahead of the inquest into his death.

Dexter Bristol, who came to the UK from Grenada aged eight, collapsed and died in the street outside his home in Camden on 31 March. He had been sacked from his cleaning job because he had no passport, and then denied benefits because officials did not believe he was in the country legally.

His mother, 76-year-old Sentina Bristol, told The Independent she was convinced the stress and anxiety her son experienced as a result of immigration controls contributed to his death, saying she watched him become so frustrated that he began to “lose his mind”.

But with no access to legal aid and having spent all of her savings on Mr Bristol’s passport documents and then his funeral, she is having to crowdfund in order to afford legal representation so that questions are asked about the stress her son experienced leading up to his death.

Ms Bristol, who trained as a nurse in Britain and worked in the NHS for 40 years, said: “Dexter said his employer had asked for his passport, but the one I had for him was 50 years old from when he was a child. He was told he would be deported with that passport.

“He became withdrawn – like a zombie. He lost his mind. He used to come to my house every Saturday, but he stopped. When I phoned him he wouldn’t answer. He was very distressed.

“The only thing I kept hearing from him was that they wanted to deport him. Somebody somewhere was pestering him for his passport, threatening him.”

The former nurse, who fostered children after she retired, fears she won’t be able to put forward the case that stress contributed to her son’s death without a solicitor to represent her at the inquest, which begins on Friday.

She added: “I feel very hurt to know that I grew up as a British subject – I never knew anything but British. We came here as British citizens – we were all one, just a different colour. There’s no one at home that he knows now.

“I’m trained as a nurse in this country. I worked here for 40 years. It really hurts me to know that after all those years we were cast out, to know that my son had to end up in a situation like this.

“I am very angry with the government, not only for my son, but for all the people that they’ve put into distress, shattering their lives.”

Deborah Coles, director at charity Inquest, told The Independent it was important for the inquest to consider whether the hostile environment contributed to Mr Bristol’s death, saying it was an opportunity to look into the wider impact of the policies.

“This is an important opportunity to scrutinise the highly contentious Windrush issue and its impact on people’s mental and physical health of that whole hostile environment and the situation they found themselves in,” she said.

“It is always difficult arguing the culpability of the state, but we’ve seen the appalling way people affected by the hostile environment have been treated and Dexter has been a victim of the state’s treatment of these families.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our sincere condolences are with Mr Bristol’s family and friends at this clearly difficult time.

“Mr Bristol made no applications to the Home Office and was not the subject of any removal action, but we would urge his family to get in touch with us so that we can provide any assistance that is required.”

You can donate to help Ms Bristol raise funds for legal representation here.