Jonathan Malia: Another Black man dies in custody

Jonathan Andel Malia is the latest in a long line of black men to die in custody. While by no means an exclusively black issue, these cases have highlighted the problems faced by detained black men – particularly those held in the mental health system. It is now common knowledge that black people are subject to detention under the Mental Health Act in far greater numbers than their white counterparts, even though there isn’t a higher prevalence of mental illness within this group.

Compulsion and coercion typify the black patient experience. This is borne out by figures from the Care Quality Commission, which shows that black patients are 29 per cent more likely to be forcibly restrained than their white counterparts. The treatment of these patients is undeniably a factor in the numbers of preventable deaths which occur in mental health settings. People detained under the Mental Health Act account for 60 per cent of those who lose their lives in the care of the state.

In 2013 we will see inquests for a number of high-profile black deaths in custody cases, including the inquest into the case of Olaseni Lewis. The 23-year- old masters graduate, like Jonathan, was a voluntary patient. He died after he was restrained by 11 police officers who were called on to the ward by staff at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust in 2010. It will be almost three years before the Lewis family find out exactly how Olaseni lost his life. No family should have to wait this long.

Matilda MacAttram, director of Black Mental Health UK