The Home Office has been accused of “obscuring access to justice” after it emerged two key witnesses in the inquest into the death of an immigration detainee are due to be imminently deported.

Around 50 people are set to be removed from the UK on Wednesday on the first charter flight to Jamaica since the Windrush scandal erupted, in what campaigners described as a “slap in the face” for Britain’s Caribbean community.

It has now emerged that two of the men due to be on the flight are key witnesses in the inquest into the death of Carlington Spencer, a 38-year-old Jamaican man who died in Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre, Lincolnshire, in 2017.

On Monday, the coroner for Lincolnshire issued a summons for Christopher Richards, 47, and Joseph Nembhard, 37, to attend a pre-inquest review on 11 March. But the Home Office has not indicated it will halt their deportation so they can attend.

The two men told The Independent they believed the Home Office was intentionally trying to move witnesses ahead of the inquest into the death of their friend. They said they had “strong evidence” that his death could have been prevented.

Mr Richards, who has been in the UK for 21 years and has a partner and four British children, said: “They’re tampering with witnesses. I’m 120 per cent sure that they’re trying to get rid of us because of this case against the Home Office. They’re interfering.”

The 47-year-old, who was convicted of assault in 2010 for which he spent 14 months in prison, and was detained and issued the deportation notice last week, said: “They are fixing it up the way they want it. They’re trying to remove the witnesses. It should not be allowed.

“I want to tell Carlington’s wife and his little kids the truth. Our case against them is very strong. We took notes and recorded stuff.”

Mr Richards’ solicitor, Imogen Townley of Wilson Solicitors LLP, said that as the Home Office had not confirmed that they had deferred his removal following the witness summons from the coroner, she had been forced to take the “extreme” measure of lodging an application for judicial review to the High Court.

She said the Home Office had known Mr Richards was a potential witness “for months” yet still listed him for deportation on the charter flight, in a move that “risked obscuring access to justice”.

“The Home Office should be proactively investigating how Mr Spencer died at Morton Hall. They are the public body alleged to have caused or contributed to his death, and yet instead of taking this positive proactive role in investigating, they are bundling the witnesses off on a secretive charter flight,” she said.

“The worst thing about it is that it indicates that they’re not committed to the inquest and to ensuring justice for Carlington Spencer’s family. It’s a breach of the right to life which states that deaths must be properly investigated.

“Detention centres are incredibly closed environments, and the fact that there are detainees who are able and willing to speak and give evidence to the coroner is something that we benefit from and we shouldn’t be trying to silence them and prevent them giving their testimony.”

The other witness, Mr Nembhard, who moved to the UK from Jamaica at the age of 18 and has a wife who is 23 weeks pregnant, as well as a four-year-old daughter, said he felt he was being “silenced” by the Home Office.

“They are suggesting that if I go to Jamaica I can take part over the internet. I’m not saying it’s not possible, but between now and then is the Home Office going to guarantee I’ll still be alive, or that they’ll be able to find me?” he said.

“When you’re in a country where life is hard, it’s easy to lose your phone, to lose your contacts.

“I’m being silenced. They are quickly trying to get me on the flight. It’s because we wrote down everything that happened and sent it to the relevant authorities.”

Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, which supports families of people who have died in custody, said it was “alarming” that inquest witnesses were at risk of being deported.

“Obstructing key witnesses from giving evidence significantly undermines the investigative function of the inquest to get to the truth and expose any wrongdoing,” she said.

“The Home Office and other persons responsible for Carlington’s care must be effectively scrutinised and held accountable for future deaths to be prevented. We have to question whether this is an attempt to frustrate the inquest process.”

When asked whether they would prevent the two witnesses from being deported, a Home Office spokesperson said it did not comment on individual cases.

“It is only right that we seek to deport foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK,” the spokesperson said. “This ensures we keep the public safe. All individuals on this charter flight are serious criminals.”

Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Show all 15 1 /15 Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' arriving at Tilbury Docks from Jamaica, with 482 Jamaicans on board, emigrating to Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaican immigrants being welcomed by RAF officials from the Colonial Office after the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' landed them at Tilbury. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex, speaking at his home in Leeds PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner in Leeds shortly after he arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Gardner was 22 years old when he boarded the ship in Kingston, Jamaica, with his brother Gladstone before they and hundreds of Caribbean migrants called on to rebuild post-war Britain disembarked the ship in Tilbury Docks PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner (right), during his RAF service in 1947 PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The son of Ruth Williams, a Windrush-generation immigrant, wants to the leave the country after threats of deportation. According to his mother, Mr Haynes applied for British citizenship in 2016 but was rejected, despite Ms Williams having lived in the UK almost permanently since arriving from St Vincent and the Grenadines in 1959. Ruth Williams, 75, said she felt "betrayed" by Britain after the Home Office twice turned down applications for her 35-year-old son, Mozi Haynes, to remain in the country. Ms Williams is understood to have cancer and said she relies heavily on her son for support. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The British liner 'Empire Windrush' at port in 1954. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Ruth Williams, 75, with her British passport. "I feel betrayed and a second class citizen in my own country," she said. "This makes me so sad and the Home Office must show some compassion. "I am unwell and almost 75, I live on my own and I need my son to stay here. I need my family around me and I can’t face being alone. He has applied to the Home Office and been refused twice." PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK From the top, hopeful Jamaican boxers Charles Smith, Ten Ansel, Essi Reid, John Hazel, Boy Solas and manager Mortimer Martin arrive at Tilbury on the Empire Windrush in the hope of finding work in Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaicans reading a newspaper whilst on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' bound for Tilbury docks in Essex. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK After half a century in Britain, Anthony Bryan decided it was time to go abroad. But the decision set off a nightmare that saw him lose his job, detained twice and almost deported to Jamaica. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaica-born Anthony Bryan poses outside his home in Edmonton, north London. Now 60 and a grandfather, Bryan thought the issue could be resolved swiftly, as he legally moved to Britain with his family as part of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants after World War II. In 1948, the ship Windrush brought the first group of migrants from the West Indies to help rebuild post-war Britain, and many others followed from around the Commonwealth. A 1971 law gave them indefinite leave to remain, but many never formalised their status, often because they were children who came over on their parents' passports and then never applied for their own. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Three Jamaican immigrants (left to right) John Hazel, a 21-year-old boxer, Harold Wilmot, 32, and John Richards, a 22-year-old carpenter, arriving at Tilbury on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush', smartly dressed in zoot suits and trilby hats. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Newly arrived Jamaican immigrants on board the 'Empire Windrush' at Tilbury in 1948. Getty

The charter flight to Jamaica has been met with outrage from politicians who said it was an “insult” to Windrush citizens.

All of those set to be removed on the flight are said to have criminal convictions, but all have served their sentences in UK jails and campaigners argue that their removal – which for many means returning alone to a country they left as young children – constitutes a “brutal double punishment”.

Information on those facing removal, gathered by campaign group Movement for Justice, indicates that seven of them came to the UK as children, eight have British-born children, and 11 have relatives in the Windrush generation.

One woman set to be removed is said to be a grandmother to 10 British children, while another deportee reportedly has a grandfather who served in the British army.