'I missed the milestones' Rebuilding a life in the UK after 10 lost years

Winston Jones has worked hard to rebuild his life after Home Office errors meant that he was unable to return to his family in the UK for a decade.

- Amelia Gentleman

Winston Jones has worked hard to rebuild his life after Home Office errors meant that he was unable to return to his family in the UK for a decade. In 2005, he set out for a short holiday in Jamaica. What followed was 10 years of near destitution and homelessness in Kingston.

Now, Jones, 64, has used money he received from the government's Windrush compensation scheme to open a music and podcast studio in Manchester, working alongside his son to create opportunities for young people.

Earlier this month, he met the immigration minister Seema Malhotra at his studio and spoke to her about his experiences, in the hope it would convince other people to apply for compensation through the Windrush scheme.

Jones almost didn't claim the compensation to which he was entitled. The former Sainsbury's bakery manager said he had felt so traumatised by being wrongly classed as an immigration offender and locked out of the country that had been his home since 1973 that he felt too afraid.