VIOLENCE and self-harming have soared at a notorious immigration detention centre, after a public inquiry exposed its toxic culture, inspectors warned today.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons found that the health service at Brook House centre in West Sussex is at “breaking point,” with fights and assaults on staff up more than five-fold since their last visit in 2022.

Incidents of self-harm have also more than doubled to 12 a month over the period.

Two men have died there since a public inquiry in September 2023 found a toxic culture, with detainees forcibly moved while naked and subjected to unnecessary pain.

The Serco-run site admitted a 26-year-old Theophile Kaliviotis died there last month and a 37-year-old Albanian man took his own life in November 2023.

More than a third of its 330 detainees told officials they had felt suicidal at the site.

Drugs at Brook House were also becoming increasingly available, the report said.

Chief inspector Charlie Taylor said the deterioration in its health service was a “matter of serious concern” and that “it was clear that the service was stretched to breaking point.”

He added: “A longstanding and fundamental problem was that all immigration detainees at Brook House, who should be held in relaxed conditions with minimal restrictions, were instead in an institution that looked and felt like a prison.”

The length of detention had also risen since the last inspection, with 10 people held at the centre for more than a year and one man held for an “unacceptably long” 519 days.

At least 20 people, including those assessed as vulnerable, had been released from the centre homeless in the past year, his report added.

One Life to Live founder Nicola David said: “Britain is the only country in Europe which continues to practise unlimited immigration detention.

“It’s an outrage, not least because immigration detention is an administrative issue, not a criminal issue, and people could just as well be living in the community.”

Public inquiry chairwoman Kate Eves called for a “reset” on an “inadequate” government response to her recommendations launched following a 2017 BBC Panorama documentary.

The Home Office said it was taking “robust action” to improve standards across immigration detention facilities.