Man died after falling through Newport warehouse roof

Mustafa Dawood was working at the Shaftesbury hand car wash on June 30, 2018, when immigration officers arrived at the site.

The jury at Newport Coroner's Court was played CCTV footage showing officers arriving at Albany Trading Estate, and Mr Dawood was seeing fleeing. He was later picked up by cameras climbing onto the roof of a warehouse, before lowering himself onto the roof of a smaller building.

Officers found him lying on the floor of a room in the smaller building with severe head injuries. He died later that day at University Hospital of Wales.

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Mr Dawood, a member of the Zaghawa tribe, had come to the UK in 2015 fleeing persecution.

His mother, Hameda Hamed Shogar Ahmed, said that Mr Dawood fled Sudan after being detained by the authorities on multiple occasions and that he feared for his life.

She told the court that her son was “a good man” who was “loved by everyone.”

“Mustafa was worried about what might happen to him in the future. There was so much death in our neighbourhood,” she said.

“He said ‘Mum there is no safety here’. He said to me that he hoped to leave.

“Mustafa told me that once he had gained his residency in the UK he would study and work in order to help me and his father and his siblings. He wanted to work hard and send money back to Sudan to help us.

“It was difficult for me to speak about that moment. It didn’t make sense to me that I had lost my child.

“It is very hard to comprehend that Mustafa had died. I wish now Mustafa had not left for the UK.

“I never want this to happen to any other family. To have their child taken away from them.

“My son was not a thief or a murderer. He was just a young person asking for safety. I want to understand what happened on June 30, 2018.”

Mr Dawood lived in Wolverhampton when he moved to the UK in 2015, but after connecting with family friend Abdalaziz Osman, stayed with him in Southampton, where – unable to work or study after his asylum application was rejected – he was learning English with the help of a charity.

Mr Osman described Mr Dawood as an “intelligent young gentleman”, adding that he was “likeable and sociable.”

Mr Dawood was relocated to Newport in 2017.

The court heard that his support payments were stopped by the Home Office from April 24, 2018, into May – when they were reinstated.

Albany Trading Estate in Newport.

Yard manager Barry Johnson said that he received a call from Christian Phillips, who was working at Albany Trading Estate that morning, at around 10.45am to 11am, asking for the code to enter a room – in the smaller building – where officers suspected Mr Dawood was hiding.

Mr Phillips described seeing Mr Dawood unconsious on the floor and a hole in the roof, having helped the officers to open the door. 

Mr Phillip’s father, Michael – an HGV driver – said that he had seen Mr Dawood working at the car wash for “two to four weeks” – although he did not know him.

The court heard evidence from Dr James Dunn, who said the medical cause of death was 1A: traumatic sub-arachnoid haemorrhage.

Immigration officer Ryan Moore said that protocol meant that officers have to gain permission from the owner of the premises to be on a site, before then also having to gain permission from individuals to speak with them.

However, he added an “adverse reaction” to officers’ presence – such as fleeing – gives them the power to “pursue and arrest the individual.”

The inquest continues.