RIP SENI: the graffiti confronting the UK mental health crisis

One morning in June 2020, graffiti reading RIP SENI appeared emblazoned across a public artwork outside the Bethlem royal hospital, a psychiatric hospital in south London. The spray-painted letters drew attention to Olaseni Lewis, a 23-year-old black man who died after being restrained by 11 police officers while in the care of the hospital in 2010. This film follows what happened after the graffiti, as it launches a discussion about race, mental health and injustice in the UK, and the effects on families.

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Produced by the Bethlem Gallery and supported by the Mental Health and Justice Project ► https://mhj.org.uk/

Read about the consultation on ‘Seni’s Law’ which follows the delay in enacting the legislation passed after his death
► https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/mental-health-units-use-of-force-act-2018-statutory-guidance
► https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/20/parents-of-man-who-died-after-police-restraint-challenge-delay-over-senis-law

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