FRIENDS of an asylum seeker believed to have jumped seven storeys to his death after a desperate struggle to remain in the UK are raising cash to return his body to his mother.

Osman Rasul Mohammed died after apparently jumping from the Clifford Court tower block in Radford on July 25.

The Iraqi Kurd came to the UK more than eight years ago to escape the torment his family had suffered in Iraq.

His father and brother had been killed and, according to friend Harry Woolner who put him up in his home for three months, he feared he would be killed or tortured if sent back.

The 27-year-old from Beech Avenue, Hyson Green, spent the last year of his life sleeping on friend's floors and on the streets.

Mr Woolner said wanting to see his two sons in Coventry kept him going. But he was dealt a devastating blow in June when the charity Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) – which provided his legal advice and representation – collapsed and he lost his legal aid.

He asked Home Office officials in Croydon for help but was turned away and told to find a solicitor.

Mr Woolner, 23, said: "I think life for him was hard. He was struggling to get by day to day.

"He just wanted a house where he could live and somewhere he could call home.

"His dad and brother had been killed. This was often part of the trouble he faced – he was very concerned that the people that killed his father would kill him too.

"He thought he would not be able to get out of the airport in Iraq without them knowing. He said if he went back he would be killed, or captured and tortured."

Osman went to Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Refugee Forum for the past year for advice about how he could remain in the UK. He was classed as a "destitute asylum seeker."

Refugee forum manager Bea Tobolewska said: "With the collapse of the RMJ anyone that had legal representation through them would have found themselves without a solicitor and their legal documents would have been put into storage.

"It's had a real knock-on effect to how busy we are here."

Osman received food parcels and £10 a month from the forum.

Mr Woolner has now launched an appeal to raise the £3,300 needed to pay for Osman's body to be sent home to his mother in Iraq.

He said: "The family have got to pay for it themselves. We are trying to get that money back for them. Any extra that might be made will be given to the refugee forum or sent back to his family."

RMJ blames its woes on delayed payments from the Legal Services Commission, the body which runs the legal aid system in England and Wales.

Joanna Petersen, who worked at RMJ, said the Nottingham office had more than 600 clients. Most workers spent the RMJ's final weekend calling clients.

She said: "Having to tell 44 people the same bad news was just awful. I had one 15-year-old unaccompanied minor, who was a victim of trafficking, crying down the phone for about half an hour.

" I had several clients whose cases were extremely strong, but who had been dropped by other legal aid providers because of the complexity of the cases. The news of Osman's death was dreadful, but not shocking.

"Knowing the vulnerability and trauma of many of my clients, and the clients represented by the Nottingham office as a whole, I have been anticipating news like this ever since the day we were told RMJ was closing."

Alan Simpson, who was involved in helping a number of asylum seekers and refugees during his time as MP for Nottingham South, said: "What this brings home is that it is a combination of human tragedy and hypocrisy.

"Britain continues to have an incredibly harsh approach to the treatment of asylum seekers in conflict zones.

"I simply fail to understand how in Iraq, where the US has still not found itself able to withdraw troops because of the fear of the descent into uncontrolled sectarian violence, that somehow those who have fled the violence are safe to return.

"You would think that our view of Britain as a civilised society would not be one in which the best option left open to people was to take their lives rather than have it taken from them elsewhere."

A Home Office spokesman said: "Any death of this kind is a tragedy. We are working closely with Notts Police while this matter is being investigated."