THE mother of House rapper Darnell Swallow last night admitted she 
feared her only son would KILL himself after he was booted out of the 
US for drug offences.

The Ipswich-born albino—one of the favourites to win BB9—was forced to 
return to the UK after being convicted in the States.

But mum Bernadette Mathis, 43, said she was terrified the deportation 
hell would prove to much for Darnell and he'd commit suicide.

"I was seriously worried he would get to the UK and just jump off a 
bridge," said Bernadette. "He didn't have anywhere to stay and didn't 
know anyone.

"I just didn't think that he was going to make it."

Darnell, 26, was kicked out of the US in disgrace in 2006, leaving 
behind his mum and two sisters, Sharice, 19, and Patrice, 17, to return 
to the country he had left as a six-year-old.

But despite his mum's concerns, he has made a new life for himself in 
Ipswich.

But Mrs Mathis, who lives in St Louis, Missouri, slammed the US 
authorities for "over-reacting" by deporting her boy, insisting he was 
not a "gangster".

She raged: "They treated him like he was Bin Laden. Yes, he did wrong 
but deporting him was still overkill.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me, he can never come over. My 
daughter just had a baby, he'll probably never see it."

She said Darnell was originally arrested for possession of marijuana in 
North Dakota but got into trouble again when he failed to complete a 
200-hour community sentence after moving to Minneapolis.

"How do you go from getting 200 hours community service, which is a 
slap on the wrist, to being deported for life?" she asked. "The only 
reason that happened was because he was a British citizen and because 
he had turned 18 and his green card had expired.

"He's not a gangster—he only got community service. Not that drugs 
aren't bad, but they acted like he was done for attempted murder."

Darnell had only been back to Ipswich a couple of times since his mum 
met and married her first husband, a US serviceman, and the family 
moved to Italy for four years before being posted back to the US.

They first settled in North Dakota—where Darnell was later arrested on 
drugs offences—before moving to St Louis.

In the house Darnell has told housemates about his chequered past.

He admitted: "Damn, I've a past that none of you know. I've been to 
jail." Bernadette said she has been filled with pride watching her 
son's progress in the BB house over the internet.

She beamed: "It's cool that he's in the house but it's kind of hard 
when people say nasty things about your kid.

"He's going good and I'm proud of him. His sisters are tickled pink but 
they get annoyed too when people say nasty things about their brother. 
However, he just keeps on getting stronger."

She also spoke of Darnell's fighting spirit—a character trait she 
believes will help him in the house—which she said he has had 
throughout his life.

Bernadette explained how he spent his first few months in Ipswich 
Hospital after being born prematurely.

"He was a little-bitty baby and was in hospital for a couple of months 
but they got him through."

She also said Darnell had no intention of going on Big Brother when he 
was plucked out of obscurity to appear on the show.

He was actually going to the BB studios to support a friend who 
desperately wanted to be on the Channel 4 hit and was spotted in the 
crowd because of his unusual looks and 6ft stature.

Other fans of Darnell include his half-brother, ex-Spurs and England 
midfielder Jason Dozzell and one of Ipswich's brightest karate stars, 
Leonie Kersey.

Leonie, 25, revealed that she only took up the sport after her big pal 
Darnell started taking classes.

Now she's a former European champ and runner-up and a well-known karate 
teacher with a third-dan black belt.

She said: "Darnell would go to karate and his mum would baby-sit for 
me. After a while, I thought I'd give it a try too. He later gave it up 
and I became a karate instructor.

"He did have a lot on his mind when he came to the UK recently but to 
be fair, Darnell has dealt with it really well.

"He's so focussed—Darnell has come over here with a clean slate and is 
going to make something of himself.

"I was quite nervous about Big Brother to start with because of how 
they can single people out. I was worried it would happen to Darnel 
because he's an albino, but it hasn't. He seems to just want everyone 
to be happy and be friends.

"Hopefully he'll do really well. We're all behind him."

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/bigbrother/2906_darnells_suicide_hell.shtml