This is the shocking moment staff at a G4S immigration centre physically restrained and apparently tried to throttle a self-harming detainee.
The man, named only as Abass and staying in the ward for vulnerable and mentally ill detainees, tried to self strangulate himself and put a mobile phone battery in his mouth before the officer violently intervened.
As the 20-year-old man held the battery in his mouth at Brook House facility, near Gatwick Airport, a custody manager can be heard remarking: ‘Plug him in and he’ll be a Duracell Bunny’.
The video is part of a BBC Panorama probe, which followed an employee, who secretly filmed as other officers and staffers mocked self-harming asylum seekers, drug users and other detainees at the facility.
G4S confirmed last week that it had suspended nine members of staff pending further investigation.
As the 20-year-old man held the battery in his mouth at Brook House facility, near Gatwick Airport, a custody manager can be heard mocking him
The man, named only as Abass and staying in the ward for vulnerable and mentally ill detainees, tried to self strangulate himself and put a mobile phone battery in his mouth before the officer violently intervened
The incidents form part of an alleged culture of abuse captured by undercover filming at the the immigration centre.
In video secretly filmed by former employee Callum Tulley, the man only identified as Abass was confronted by officers after sticking a battery in his mouth.
A few moments later, he put his hands around his own neck and attempted to strangle himself in front of Tulley.
Tulley called other officers, seeking help with the matter, and an officer identified as Yan forcefully tries to get the man to let go of his neck.
‘Don’t you f****** move, you f****** piece of s***. I’m going to put you to f****** to sleep,’ he can be heard saying as he grabs Abbass, who at this point is being restrained on the floor.
Panorama’s undercover reporter Tulley said the staff member ‘basically stuck both of his fingers into his neck, and he was pushing so, so hard I could hear the detainee trying to gasp for breath’.
Later, Yan tells Tulley not to file a ‘Use of Force report, and a nurse goes along with the request.
In a break room following the incident, Yan tells Tully, who was visibly distressed by the altercation: ‘We don’t cringe at breaking bones, that’s it. If I killed a man, I wouldn’t be bothered.’
BBC Panorama said it has undercover footage showing officers ‘mocking, abusing and even assaulting detainees’
Undercover footage taken by a custody officer is said to show ‘chaos, incompetence and abuse’ at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre near Gatwick, pictured
Those held at Brook House include foreign national offenders, asylum seekers and people who have over-stayed visas.
The investigation into the immigration centre also reveals the use of drugs, particularly the psychoactive substance ‘spice’, that are extremely prevalent in the facility.
The programme also features an allegation that G4S management were warned three years ago about a group of officers mistreating detainees at Brook House.
The facility is one of two immigration centres run by G4S in the UK and has capacity for 508 adult men.
Another whistle-blower – a former senior G4S manager – Nathan Ward has told Panorama that he warned the managing director for G4S detention services three years ago about the behaviour of some staff at Brook House.
He said: ‘The vast of majority were good decent people but there was a group that actually concerned me on their relationship with detainees it was around language that they used, a sense of roughness and the use of force, how force was used.’
A whistleblower also claimed this week that asylum seekers at the facility have even been forced to share rooms with dangerous foreign criminals who are awaiting deportation after finishing their prison sentences.
An investigation has been launched into the allegations by the BBC ‘s Panorama
The programme also features an allegation that G4S management were warned three years ago about a group of officers mistreating detainees at Brook House
Following the BBC revelations, G4S said nine staff had been suspended pending further investigation.
Jerry Petherick, managing director for G4S custodial and detention services in the UK, said: ‘The company investigates all complaints and has confidential whistleblowing channels for staff.
‘There is no place for the type of conduct described in the allegations anywhere in G4S and it is not representative of the many G4S colleagues who do a great job often in difficult and challenging circumstances.’
Staff claim they face soaring levels of violence, mental health problems and drug abuse among detainees.
This is partly because the proportion of foreign criminals being held pending deportation has risen from 5 per cent to 45 per cent in recent months.
The remaining detainees are immigration cases, chiefly from Pakistan, Albania, Nigeria, Afghanistan and India.
G4S has been paid more than 100 million pounds by the Home Office to run the centre since it opened in 2009.
In March a report found that some detainees had been held for more than two years at the removal centre, pictured – with the average stay rising from 28 to 48 days
The firm, which has 585,000 employees in 100 countries, works in a number of sectors including technology, care, justice services and cash transportation.
Last year, criminal proceedings were launched against eight G4S staff at the Medway Secure Training Centre, which holds foreign offenders and asylum seekers.
The firm was lambasted over its security operation at the 2012 London Olympics and paid the Government £109million two years later after overcharging for its prisoner tagging services.
In 2010, a year after it opened, Brook House was branded ‘fundamentally unsafe’ but its performance improved considerably.
The most recent report by Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke said some detainees were being held for excessive periods due to bureaucratic delays.
It also described residential units as similar to those in prisons, saying problems were ‘exacerbated by poor ventilation and unsatisfactory sanitary facilities’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We condemn any actions that put the safety or dignity of immigration removal centre detainees at risk.
‘We are clear that all detainees should be treated with dignity and respect and we expect G4S to carry out a thorough investigation into these allegations and that all appropriate action be taken.’