Orville Blackwood

Orville Blackwood, 31, was a friendly Jamaican-born British father living in south London.

For many years Orville had been experiencing mental ill health. In 1991, Orville was admitted to Broadmoor Hospital after being detained under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983.

At Broadmoor, Orville was restrained by medical staff and injected with 150mg  of tranquilizing medication – three times the recommended limit. Orville had been stripped naked and left alone. He died almost immediately after being administered the dose.

A 1991 inquest returned a verdict of 'accidental death', but that verdict was quashed following campaigning by Orville’s mother, Cara Buckley, for a judicial review. In 1993, the second inquest also returned a verdict of 'accidental death'.

Orville was the third Black patient at Broadmoor to die under similar circumstances in a seven-month period. A 1993 report was highly critical of how Orville was treated by Broadmoor and mental health services, citing racist stereotypes as a key reason.  

The Orville Blackwood Community Campaign was set up in aid of his family’s tireless fight for justice and to expose the mistreatment of users of mental health services.

Following the second inquest verdict, Cara said, "I want care and counselling to be the priority, not drugging".