Joy Gardner was a 40-year-old Jamaican mother and media studies student living in Crouch End, north London. She entered Britain legally on a visitor’s visa in 1987 and later married British citizen Joseph Gardner, who supported her application for permanent residency.
However, the couple separated five weeks later, and he withdrew his support. Joy then spent three years trying to regularise her status while raising her British-born son, Graeme.
On 28 July 1993, officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Aliens Deportation Group entered her home with immigration officials to deport Joy and her five-year-old son to Jamaica.
She was handcuffed, placed in a body belt, bound at the thighs and ankles with leather straps, and gagged with 13 feet of adhesive tape wrapped repeatedly around her head.
Joy stopped breathing, suffered catastrophic brain damage from oxygen deprivation and died four days later without regaining consciousness.
Detective Sergeant Linda Evans and Detective Constables John Burrell and Colin Whitby were later charged with manslaughter.
Burrell was cleared on the judge’s direction, while Evans and Whitby were found not guilty. No officer was held criminally responsible.
Graeme witnessed the raid and was later reported to have suffered years of psychological trauma. He was 11 when his grandmother, Myrna Simpson, pursued compensation on his behalf in 1999.
He would now be approximately 38 or 39, but little reliable information is publicly available about his adult life or whether the claim resulted in a settlement.
Following Joy’s death, the Metropolitan Police suspended the use of mouth gags during deportations, and the government banned them in 1994. Her case also intensified calls for clearer restraint rules, better training and greater accountability during forced deportations.
A huge shoutout to The Voice Newspaper @thevoicenewspaper for documenting Joy’s story and continuing to be a powerful voice for Black British communities.
More than three decades later, her death remains a painful reminder of institutional racism, excessive force and the urgent need to keep fighting for justice and accountability.
vaporwave
stormborns
origamiaround
pixelskylines
