An Iraqi "bad man" has been jailed for 15 years for beating a fellow detainee to death at a West Drayton immigration facility after taking the drug Spice for the first time.
Zana Yusif, 32, killed Bangladeshi grandfather Tarek Chowdhury in a cell at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in Harmondsworth on December 1 2016.
Yusif had arrived at the centre two days before and had stopped taking his medication, ingesting Spice before attacking his 64-year-old victim.
The 32-year-old has gone into Mr Chowdhury's cell wearing no trousers and asked him for a light before punching him with force up to 12 times when he did not respond, a court heard.
From the courts
Mr Chowdhury was found lying on the bottom bunk in the cell and was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service, but he died later the same day at 9.24pm.
Detective Inspector James Stevenson, the investigating officer from the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "Mr Chowdhury was viciously set upon by another detainee, and the ferocity of the attack ultimately led to his death.
"Yusif admitted to his role in the attack and has today been jailed and cannot pose a danger to others."
Yusif pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility on May 8 and was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Monday (November 13) to 15 years in prison with a further five years on extended licence.
Judge Richard Marks QC said Spice was a drug which was associated with "auditory hallucinations" and led to "aggressive behaviour".
He told Yusif: "It is clearly the case your ingestion of Spice the day before these events must have played a significant part in your actions in carrying out this killing.
"Even if it was the first time you have taken Spice it was in my judgment a gravely irresponsible thing for you to have done."
He said it was a "vicious and sustained attack" on a defenceless man and ordered Yusif to be deported after serving his sentence.
The court heard how the victim had come to Britain around 14 years ago because of his political beliefs and had been separated from his wife and two daughters.
He was the found working illegally in a fish and chip shop in the West Midlands, where he has extended family, and was told to leave the country.
His sister-in-law, Forida Habib, who had attended court hearings, said that before his death his family in Bangladesh had been looking forward to being reunited with him.
She said he was "unrecognisable" when returned to them in a coffin.
She added: "He was a quiet man and we never thought anything like this would happen to him as he would never hurt anyone.
"The fact his death was so brutal and avoidable has made his death harder to deal with."
The court heard of how Yusif was smuggled into the country in the back of a lorry when he was 17-years-old to avoid joining the Iraqi army.
He lived in London and has convictions for 33 offences of dishonesty, violence and harassment. The court also heard how he had mental health problems and smoked skunk cannabis which made his condition worse.
He was nicknamed "bad man" by other inhabitants of the immigration facility which he was being held in after he was issued with a deportation notice in 2014.
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