THE Home Office continued to hold asylum-seekers at Napier Barracks in Kent for weeks after they had been identified as vulnerable, including a man who attempted suicide, prison inspectors have revealed. 

A damning report into conditions at the former army camp in Kent and another ex-military facility in Wales found “serious safeguarding concerns” at the site. 

Following an inspection in February, HM Inspectorate of Prisons reported that seven residents of the barracks had threatened suicide since it was opened in September.

People identified as vulnerable were found to have remained on site for “considerable periods of time.”

In one case, a man identified by the Home Office as a potential trafficking victim was held at the barracks for a further 10 weeks before being transferred. 

In another, a suicidal man was kept at the barracks for over a month.

The report mentioned a 20-minute delay in responding to the resident, for which it blamed “poor communication” between agencies and staff at the site.

The man was placed under constant supervision, but this was later abandoned. A day later, he was found trying to hang himself and required hospital treatment overnight. 

Nonetheless, it took another three weeks before the individual was moved out. Inspectors said that there had been “no review of this case to learn lessons,” adding it was “unclear” why he had not been removed much sooner. 

The inspectors also found that vulnerable residents, including those who said they were children and others at “high risk” of self-harm, were moved to an “isolation block” where conditions were “decrepit” and “wholly unsuitable.” 

The report was cited as evidence in a High Court case this week looking at the legality of using Napier Barracks as accommodation for asylum-seekers, details of which were released to the press on Thursday.

During the two-day trial, brought by six asylum-seekers formerly held at Napier, the court heard how residents “were put at “exceptionally high risk” of catching Covid-19. In January, almost 200 residents became infected with the virus. 

Home Office lawyer Lisa Giovannetti QC said on Thursday that the department had “always accepted” that there was a higher risk of catching Covid at the site, but she sought to justify the decision by saying that only “young men” at lower risk were moved there.