Brook House: Staff used racial slur to immigration centre detainee

Five years ago Callum Tulley, a former Brook House officer and now a BBC journalist, carried out secret filming

Staff at an immigration removal centre used the N-word when referring to a detainee, an inquiry has been told.

The public inquiry is examining bullying and physical mistreatment of detainees at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre, near Gatwick Airport.

Undercover BBC reporter Callum Tulley said staff were told to drag a detainee out of sight of cameras and assault and mistreat him.

Mr Tulley said the language he heard at the centre was "sickening".

Mr Tulley, who was 18 when he worked undercover for the BBC's Panorama programme, wore a hidden camera and microphone while employed as a detention custody officer.

The Panorama programme revealed the bullying and physical mistreatment of detainees, some of whom had mental health conditions.

On 17 May 2017 Mr Tulley said he was deployed with a team wearing riot gear after a detainee started a protest on netting slung across the wing to prevent suicides.

The inquiry heard that John Connelly, a restraint supervisor, told Mr Tulley to say to the detainee: "Listen to me," followed by the N-word.

"At the time I didn't process what he said as I was anxious about filming and riot kit," Mr Tulley said.

"Since then, I've had time to process this and I was offended by what was said."

At the time, G4S ran the West Sussex centre, but Serco took it over last year.

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

Mr Tulley told the inquiry: "Here is a man telling his staff to refer to detainees as the N-word and telling them to conspire to [assault] a detainee out of view of cameras.

"He was telling us that we could drag the detainee into the corner of a stairwell where there were no cameras.

"It was a plan to assault and mistreat a detainee and we were being instructed to carry out the plan by someone in a leadership role."

Centre 'made man racist'

In a statement to police Mr Tulley said during the incident another officer had used the N-word, saying to the detainee: "Do what you're told."

Mr Tulley told the inquiry the use of the slur was not commonplace at Brook House.

Asked about racism at the centre, he replied: "It was certainly there"

Mr Tulley said that on the day of the Grenfell Tower fire in which 72 people died, he was told by his colleague Dan Small: "At least that's a few less foreigners in England."

He told the inquiry he had never heard Mr Small use racist language before.

Later in the day Mr Tulley recorded Mr Small saying that the job at Brook House had made him racist.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].