Omasese Lumumba was killed on 8 October 1993 while in detention at Pentonville Prison in London pending a decision on his asylum claim. While being transferred to the prison hospital he was subjected to a method called “control and restraint 1” during which he died. In July 1993 an inquest jury found that he was unlawfully killed as a result of “use of improper methods and excessive force in the process of control and restraint”. Omasese Lumumba had fled Zaire to Europe after being imprisoned without trial for 18 months and ill-treated. On 15 September 1991 he was arrested and later transferred to Pentonville Prison. There he was locked in a cell for more than 20 hours a day, and his health rapidly deteriorated. Apparently he could not understand why he was being held in prison.
