A former Commonwealth soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder has been taken into an immigration detention so he can be deported to Jamaica.
The family of Twane Morgan say he knows no one in Jamaica and believe his deportation will lead to a serious decline in his mental health, as well as leaving his five children, who are all British, without a father.
His oldest son Romarni, 13, told Sky News he is worried about his father who is now “all on his own” and extremely distressed in Colnbrook detention centre in Middlesex.
The teenager said Mr Morgan, who “burst into tears” when he spoke to him on the phone from the detention centre, has “always been there” for him.
“I want him to be part of my life,” he said. “I think it would be good for me to grow up with my mum and my dad.”
Mr Morgan has been battling a deportation order for more than six years, after serving a prison term for stabbing his ex-partner’s father who attacked him with a hammer while the pair were drinking.
He had previously joined the British Army in 2004, and completed two tours of Afghanistan before being discharged with PTSD.
Mr Morgan told Sky News that he “got no help at all” after being discharged from the army, despite suffering from flashbacks and being diagnosed with bipolar disorder after seeing a friend killed in front of him.
With all appeal routes exhausted, his family are now making a plea that the Home Office allow him to stay on compassionate grounds, and have started a petition to gather support.
“We’re just asking for their discretion. He’s sorry for the crime that he committed,” Mr Morgan’s sister Tenisha said.
“We believe if he had got treatment from the army he could have lived a normal life. His crime was aggravated by PTSD: he couldn’t cope.”
