DETAINEES at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre claim wardens repeatedly ignored warnings an inmate was going to commit suicide.

Brice Mabonga, a 33-year-old detainee from Congo, tried unsuccessfully to kill himself on New Year’s Day, after spending more than a week on hunger strike.

It is believed Mr Mabonga, who had been in the Blue Wing of the Kidlington facility, attempted to slit his throat with a sharpened plastic knife in order to avoid deportation on January 2.

Manzambi Birindwa, 38, who has been in Campsfield for four months, told the Oxford Mail: "For nine days Brice had no food. He told me one day in his home country they killed his father, his mother and brothers so he lost everything.

“If they send him back, he says the Government will kill him, so it’s better for him to die here before they send him back.

“He told the guards he wanted to kill himself here, but nobody said nothing. They don't care.”

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons last year reported the centre had a ‘good’ suicide prevention policy.

However, 18 months ago the Home Office admitted nine detainees at the 216-inmate facility required medical treatment for harming themselves between May 2006 and April 2007.

A fellow African inmate said: “Brice had warned people he would commit suicide on numerous occasions.

“He spoke to an officer about the situation in his country and said he would rather commit suicide than go back.

“The officer said ‘do not do it’ but he’s done it now. They took no action.

“It’s so frustrating being in here. You try to keep yourself busy, but it always comes back to the fact you’re stuck inside here and that’s why people go mad, and try and kill themselves or start fighting for no reason.”

Bill McKeith, of the Campaign to Close Campsfield, said: “This is a symptom of what happens in these deportation centres and this is why we want them closed.”

Mr Mabonga was taken to hospital for treatment after his suicide attempt.

The Home Office said he has now been transferred to Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre next to Heathrow Airport.

The Home Office would not say whether Mr Mabonga had been placed on suicide watch before the attempt, but said he had been checked on four times on the day of the incident. Spokesman Ellen Miller said: “We treat every person we detain as sensitively as possible. Detention and removal is an essential part of effective immigration controls, but it is vital it is done with humanity and dignity.”

Fellow Home Office spokesman Eva Perkins added: “There’s no truth in these claims the suicide warnings were ignored.”

Walter Macgowan, the managing director of GEO UK, which runs Campsfield on behalf of its American parent company, declined to comment. chris.walker@oxfordmail.co.uk