Prosecutors charged three G4S security guards with manslaughter yesterday over the death of Angolan national Jimmy Mubenga during an attempted deportation.

Mr Mubenga collapsed and died after being restrained by guards aboard a British Airways flight at Heathrow airport in 2010.

Colin Kaler, Terrence Hughes and Stuart Tribelnig, who worked for G4S Care and Justice Services UK Limited at the time of Mr Mubenga's death, were tasked with removing him.

The 46-year-old father-of-five died of cardio-respiratory collapse, where the heart stops beating and a person stops breathing, the inquest found.

Prosecutors decided in July 2012 that no charges should be brought in relation to Mr Mubenga's death. But this was reconsidered after an inquest jury found he had been unlawfully killed.

Kaler, 51, from Bedfordshire, Hughes, 53, from Hampshire, and Tribelnig, 38, from Surrey, have been charged with unlawful act manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter as alternatives, the CPS confirmed.

Malcolm McHaffie, deputy head of CPS Special Crime, said: "We have completed a fresh review of all of the evidence relating to the death of Jimmy Mubenga, including the new evidence arising from the inquest, and decided that three men should be prosecuted for manslaughter.

"There is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute Colin Kaler, Terrence Hughes and Stuart Tribelnig."

Mr Mubenga's widow, Adrienne Makenda Kambana, said: "My children and I have waited a long time for this decision. We hope the CPS will now move this case forward quickly. We feel like we are another step closer to getting justice for Jimmy."

Deborah Coles, co-director of Inquest, also welcomed the announcement but warned that due to the coalition's cuts to legal aid such cases may no longer reach court.

"It is legal aid that ensured a robust examination of all the evidence, which has ultimately resulted in today's welcome decision. The cuts to legal aid mean that cases like this in the future may well not receive this kind of scrutiny," she said.

G4S itself will not face charges of corporate manslaughter after the CPS decided there was insufficient evidence for such a prosecution.

Amnesty International UK refugee programme director Jan Shaw said: "The case of Jimmy Mubenga is truly tragic and it is terrible that his family have been made to wait three-and-a-half torturous years.

"It is of course welcome news that the G4S employees are being held to account over his death, but that should not mean their employers get off the hook."