Osime Brown: 55 MPs back calls to stop deportation of severely autistic man

Dozens of MPs have backed calls to halt the deportation of a severely autistic man who was jailed as a teenager after being found guilty of stealing a mobile phone.

The cross-party group of 55 MPs have signed an early day motion calling for the Home Office to suspend plan to report 21-year-old Osime Brown to Jamaica, a country which he has not set foot in since he was four. 

The motion, sponsored by six Liberal Democrat, SNP, and Labour politicians, “notes Osime's mother's words that if they deport him, he'll die” and raises concern about his conviction and about self-harm inflicted while behind bars.

 Brown, a Jamaican-born UK resident, was served with a removal notice by the government in August 2018 on the basis of a series of criminal offences he committed as a teenager. The most serious was the theft of a mobile phone, but lawyers have expressed concern over the role of the controversial joint enterprise law in the case and a friend of Brown has testified that he was not directly involved the crime.

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition to calling for Brown’s deportation to be stopped and some supporters have staged a protest outside the Home Office.

MPs representing Labour, the Lib Dems, the Green Party, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the DUP, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party have signed the early day motion put forward by members of Parliament to formally call for a debate in the House.

Joan Martin, Osime’s mother, told The Independent: "This is phenomenal and very uplifting for us because we know we are not fighting alone. We have a lot of wonderful and caring people support us and that gives me energy".

Layla Moran, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon and one of the six sponsors of the motion, added: "We need justice for Osime Brown and his family. The Tories' hostile environment is deeply damaging and deporting Osime to Jamaica would be utterly wrong. 

"This government should be caring for Osime, not putting someone with autism, dyslexia, learning disabilities and PTSD in real danger. I stand with all my colleagues who signed the motion in the Commons."

Brown was imprisoned under the Joint Offences Act in 2015 for stealing a mobile phone. His five-year jail sentence triggered the automatic revocation of his indefinite leave to remain, which was granted after he and his family arrived in England from Jamaica at the age of four. 

Educational psychologist John T. Hall, who was was commissioned by Brown’s mother to conduct a review of her son, said it would be "an act of pure folly to do as the Home Office propose, as the consequences for Osime would not only be life-changing in a very negative direction, but potentially life-threatening". 

While jailed at HMP Stocken in Rutland, his mental and physical health deteriorated, with an increase in breakdowns and self-harming, as well as the development of a heart condition.

Ms Martin has accused the prison of failing to assist him with his autism or his mental health conditions.

The Home Office has previously said it would be “inappropriate” comment on his case “while legal proceedings are ongoing.”