Bristol Windrush musician Jashwha Moses died after citizenship awarded

Jashwha Moses had not travelled for decades through fear of being denied entry back into the UK

A reggae musician who was part of the Windrush generation died of cancer shortly after winning his long battle for UK citizenship.

Jashwha Moses had dreamt of one last holiday "just to be free" before his death - but never got his final wish.

The 64-year-old was born in Jamaica and came to Bristol in the 1960s aged 12.

He said he had been unable to travel for decades through fear of being denied entry back into the UK - his home for more than 50 years.

BBC Inside Out West followed Mr Moses during his long battle for British citizenship.

He came to live in Southmead in Bristol in 1968 and worked as an apprentice for Rolls Royce before launching into a music career, but said he never felt he could relax and was not "accepted by the system".

'The big C don't frighten me'

The musician released three albums and went abroad to perform, but said he later no longer felt able to travel.

"In the '90s I was travelling, but then all of a sudden I hear of people and know people who went out of the country and somehow could not get back in," he said.

"As a musician what do you do? You travel."

Towards the end of his life Mr Moses was fighting cancer alongside his battle for a UK passport.

"I am confident that I will get my citizenship," he told the BBC last November.

"And it better be soon because you know I'm an ill man right now. I'm kind of diagnosed with the big C. And even the big C don't frighten me.

"But I really need my citizenship fast because I would like to go on holiday somewhere. I don't know where. Doesn't matter.

"But just to be free and not burdened with the complexities of politics and politicians."

The reggae musician had released three albums

But Mr Moses died in July, about a month after getting citizenship, before he could go on holiday or see any of the compensation the government offered to victims of the so-called Windrush scandal.

Speaking at a celebration of his life, Bristol's deputy mayor Asher Craig, who had helped him in his fight for citizenship, said she was "really, really shocked that he passed away so soon".

"He didn't want to bring his burden to anybody. So at no time did I even consider that he would be passing away so quickly," she said.

"This whole Windrush situation completely stressed him out and the fact that he was already suffering from cancer with that added pressure on top of it.

"He now has his British passport, and though he may not be here to use it in life, him gonna fly away all over the world.

"He has been set free."

You can watch the full story on BBC Inside Out West on Monday, 14 October at 19:30 GMT on BBC One.