A coroner has ruled there is not enough public interest to hold a jury inquest into the death of an asylum seeker on board the Bibby Stockholm barge.
Albanian Leonard Farruku's body was found on board the controversial barge in Portland Port on December 12, 2023.
Senior coroner Rachael Griffin said at a pre-inquest review today that she agreed with the Home Office that the 'public interest has diminished' because the barge is no longer in operation.
She also said the case was not an Article 2 'right to life' Human Rights inquest as Mr Farruku was not detained by the state at his time of death.
A six-week slot has been set aside for the inquest into his death which will look at issues such as his mental health prior to being accommodated on the barge, the decision making process leading to him being placed on the barge, his transportation there and his reaction to it and the welfare support available.
Mr Farruku stayed at a hotel in Paignton, Devon, before being transferred to the Bibby Stockholm on November 3.
A post mortem examination gave his provisional cause of death as 'compression of the neck due to suspension by ligature'.
There was no evidence of third party involvement in his death.
There are reports that Mr Farruku paid almost £3,500 to travel to the UK across the Channel in a small boat in 2022.
He was reportedly found dead in a communal bathroom on the barge with the police being called at 6.22am.
It has been reported that he had been crying out for help and asked for an emergency doctors' appointment the day before his death.
The court heard he had never been assessed by a GP in Devon or by a mental health team.
READ MORE: Fund for man who died on Bibby Stockholm almost doubles
Sile Reynolds, head of asylum advocacy at Freedom from Torture, said in a statement afterwards: “We hope this inquest will explain why a talented and hopeful young man died while in the care of the Home Office, and will help ensure that no more lives are lost in pursuit of an anti-refugee agenda.
“The men, women, and children coming to this country seeking sanctuary deserve to be housed in safe and dignified community-based housing, where they have the chance to recover and rebuild their lives.”
The Bibby Stockholm barge was scrapped by the Labour Party after it came to power and the final residents left the vessel at the end of last year before it sailed from Portland in January.
The full inquest is set to start in September.
Share