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Asylum seeker’s suicide tragedy
21/11/2006
A SYRIAN asylum seeker who lost his fight to stay in England was found hanged on the day he was meant to leave his flat, an inquest was told.
The body of Taufik Al-Karazeh was discovered in the meter cupboard of his Tweedale Street flat on 10 February by council staff as they visited the property to check he was moving out.
The 27-year-old Muslim, whose appeal for asylum was rejected in September 2005, had cut out a square of carpet in the cupboard to coincide with his religious beliefs.
Asylum seeker support worker Katie Beaumont told an inquest how she had met Mr Al-Karazeh a week before his body was found to arrange a voluntary deportation to Palestine and to organise the handover of the flat.
However, on the day he was due to leave he didn't turn up to hand his key in, so Miss Beaumont and a colleague paid a visit to the property, where they found Mr Al-Karazeh's body.
Miss Beaumont also told the inquest how in January Mr Al-Karazeh - who also used the name Mohamad Eid - had become paranoid, fearing Home Office staff were following him and had installed CCTV cameras in his flat.
She took him to Rochdale Infirmary but staff advised him to make an appointment with his GP, which Miss Beaumont did for the following day. However when she went to pick up Mr Al-Karazeh, who only spoke basic English, he wasn't at his flat and the appointment was cancelled. She said: "He was concerned about going to the doctors, but I explained why it was necessary and he seemed fine about it.
"I think he was worried about being removed from the UK, but other than that he presented no other concerns."
Recording a verdict that he took his own life, coroner Simon Nelson said he couldn't be sure the deceased's balance of mind was disturbed at the time. He said: "Between 4 February and 10 of February Mr Al-Karazeh made the decision to take his own life. I have no evidence to suggest he was depressed and therefore I am reluctant to say the balance of the deceased's mind was disturbed at the time of death.
"The fact that he was due to leave the UK, be it voluntarily or otherwise, was playing on his mind, but that would be the case with any asylum seeker."
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26/11/2006 at 23:05
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