Jimmy Mubenga died on board a plane at Heathrow Airport in 2010

‘Insufficent evidence’ for charges against G4S guards over death of Gants Hill man Jimmy Mubenga

Alistair Kleebauer, Senior reporter Tuesday, July 17, 2012
3:05 PM

Three guards employed by under-fire security company G4S will not face manslaughter charges for the death of Gants Hill man Jimmy Mubenga in 2010.

Mr Mubenga died on a flight to remove him from the UK to his native Angola on October 12 before it had left Heathrow Airport.

The 46-year-old died of cardiorespiratory collapse after being restrained by security guards and left behind a widow and five children aged between one and 17.

Today, Gaon Hart, a senior crown advocate within the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges for Mr Mubenga’s death.

But his wife, Makenda Adrienne Kambana, said: “We can’t understand why the officers and G4S are not answerable to the law as we or any other member of the public would be.”

The three guards were employed by G4S Care and Justice Services, the company currently under fire for failing to provide enough security staff for the Olympic Games.

Mr Hart said to bring charges of gross negligence manslaughter against the guards, it would have to be proved to a jury that any potential breach of care owed to Mr Mubenga was a “more than minimal” cause of his death.

And it would need to be shown that Mr Mubenga was held in a “severely splinted position”- being bent over with his head either on or below his knees and his diaphragm restricted - for a long enough period that the guards’ actions alone were a more than a minimal cause of the death.

He said: “There are, however, conflicting witness accounts of the manner in which Mr Mubenga was restrained.

“No witness had an unrestricted or uninterrupted view of what happened.”

Given Mr Mubenga’s distressed state, Mr Hart said combinations of factors such as adrenalin or muscle exhaustion could not be ruled out as causes of death.

A G4S spokesman said: “The care and welfare of those in our custody has always been our top priority and we are pleased that the CPS has concluded there is no basis on which to bring charges against either G4S or its former staff.”