Bibby Stockholm asylum seeker's cause of death revealed at heartbreaking inquest

21 December 2023 , 13:50

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Leonard Farruku

An Albanian asylum seeker died of compression of the neck caused by suspension by ligature, an inquest into his death on the Bibby Stockholm barge has heard.

Leonard Farruku died on the vessel docked in Portland, Dorset, which is being used by the Home Office to house up to 500 people. The barge was initially evacuated as a result of the death on December 12.

Mr Farruku is the second Albanian man to die in the space of a few weeks while in the care of the Home Office following the death of Alfred Dosku, 37, in November.

Mr Farruku's sister Jola Dushku, 33, speaking ahead of the inquest blasted the way guards were allegedly treating those on the barge. Speaking from her home in Lombardy, Italy, Ms Dushku told Telegraph: "When I spoke with him last time, he told me that the conditions in that boat were not bad but they were treated by the guards like animals."

The Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge where tragedy struck (PA)

The inquest in Bournemouth heard Mr Farruku was found unresponsive aboard the accommodation vessel at Portland Port in Dorset. Coroner Rachael Griffin said there were not thought to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the 27-year-old.

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She told the Bournemouth hearing: “At the time of his death, Mr Farruku was residing on the Bibby Stockholm at Portland Port in Dorset. He was a single gentleman and he was unemployed at the time of his death. He died on the 12th December 2023 on the Bibby Stockholm.

“Police and paramedics had been called to reports of an unresponsive male. The gentleman was confirmed deceased at the scene.”

The inquest was told that Mr Farruku’s body was formally identified by his cousin Maranglen Farruku at the Holly Tree Lodge mortuary in Bournemouth. Ms Griffin adjourned the hearing until a pre-inquest review to be held on July 9.

No family members were present at the short hearing.

Kelly-Ann Mills