The Home Office does not publish data on the deaths of asylum seekers in its housing...

He had recently been granted asylum after a two-year wait. He was being housed in overflow accommodation by the Home Office in the South of England.

The man was staying in accommodation provided by Clearsprings Ready Homes in North Wales and was survived by his spouse, a son and a daughter. Home Office records suggest the man left a suicide note and asked that his family now be “allowed to return” to Russia.

Internal documents suggest counter terror police were involved in the case.

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He was awaiting an asylum decision when he died. The cause of death is unknown and a coroner’s investigation is taking place.

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Serco officials visited her asylum accommodation in the North West of England on 19 December 2022 and spoke to her daughter, who told them her mother had died two days earlier. An autopsy was due to take place to confirm the cause of death.

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In late December, staff at accommodation operated by Clearsprings Ready Homes called the police to advise that the man had left the hotel with a knife. Police officers later advised the hotel that the man had been found, and that he had self-harmed.

No further cause of death is provided but the incident is listed as “explained”. The Home Office has previously said it categorises deaths in this way when it has determined the cause and concluded it is neither suicide nor suspicious or criminal in nature.

An incident report completed by the man's housing provider states he was survived by a son who was also in the UK.

No specific cause of death is provided but the incident is listed as “explained”, meaning the Home Office concluded the death was neither suicide nor suspicious or criminal in nature. 

He had arrived in the UK on 13 July 2020 and applied for asylum the same day. His claim was still outstanding when he died.

Despite no cause of death being recorded, the Home Office lists the man’s death as “explained”. The Home Office has previously said it categorises deaths as “explained” when it has determined that they aren’t suicide, and are not suspicious or criminal in nature. 

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His record says he died from unspecified “natural causes”. 

A heavily redacted High Profile Notification relating to his death, disclosed under information laws, contains few details about the circumstances of his death. The summary of the incident simply says: “Email received from<redacted>, advising that the customer has died by <redacted>. Attached was email from <redacted>

“<Redacted>

“They are currently awaiting the coroner to attend the site.”

Relatives claim he first became ill on 23 April but that Mears staff ignored their repeated requests for medical help. They say he was required to self-isolate from 28 April, the same day Covid-19 tests were made available to over-65s, but no effort was made to test him.

The man's family claim nobody checked on him while he remained in isolation, without medication to alleviate his symptoms, for a further six days. Mears has denied this, saying he was monitored by an on-site team.

After learning of the severity of his condition by telephone, relatives say they "had to beg" for him to be taken to hospital on 5 May. Medical records made on his arrival suggest he had been suffering shortness of breath for two weeks. He died ten days later, on 15 May.