Brook House: Inquiry into Gatwick centre appeals for witnesses

Brook House immigration removal centre, near Gatwick Airport, can hold up to 448 detainees

An independent inquiry into alleged mistreatment of detainees at an immigration centre has appealed for potential witnesses to come forward.

Brook House, near Gatwick Airport, has been under scrutiny since the BBC's Panorama filmed undercover in 2017.

The programme apparently showed officers "mocking, abusing and assaulting" people held at the West Sussex centre, then run by G4S.

The Brook House Inquiry has now formally launched a call for evidence.

In an opening statement, inquiry chair Kate Eves urged those who were detained at, employed by, or otherwise witness to events at Brook House immigration removal centre between April and August 2017 to contact the inquiry.

The inquiry aims to provide a clear picture of what happened to detainees at Brook House in that time and make recommendations that prevent anything like it from happening again.

Covert footage was filmed inside Brook House, near Gatwick Airport

Ms Eves said: "Sharing what you know will help to ensure that this inquiry can answer the important questions raised by the Panorama documentary.

"The treatment revealed was shocking and has no place in a decent and humane immigration detention system.

"It is this inquiry's role to examine what took place at Brook House and how treatment of the nature experienced was able to happen."

At least six staff members were dismissed by G4S following the Panorama programme.

In February, Serco took over the management of Brook House after G4S decided not to renew its contract.