Legal Advice for Women Prisoners

 50% Matched Funding Opportunity! (26^th October to 2^nd November)

 Starting at 2pm on Monday 26^th October and continuing until Monday 2^nd November (or when the funds run out), our campaign on Global Giving will receive 50% matched funding on any new donations (of up to £50 in value)! This means that a donation of £10 will receive an additional £5 in matched funding (plus a subsequent £2.50 coming from Gift Aid if applicable). So any donation of up to £50 to us during that week plus Gift Aid will in fact be nearly doubled!  So, if you are inspired by this report below on our recent activites, please take advantage of this fantastic 50% matched funding opportunity to support our work further. Thank you.

Campaign Results So Far

A big Thank You from PAS! Through your generosity, we have raised £11,557 so far for our project giving free legal advice to women prisoners and disabled prisoners on their rights. We hope you enjoy reading this report on the past few months of the project.

Update Report

Women Prisoners

Over the past 6 months, your donations have enabled our Women Prisoners' Caseworker to deal with hundreds of letter and telephone enquiries, and to deliver 17 legal advice clinics in 5 women’s prisons: HMP Send, HMP Holloway, HMP East Sutton Park, HMP New Hall and HMP Eastwood Park. We have helped approximately 150 women prisoners in the past 6 months through the clinics alone, and hundreds more through the telephone calls, letters and casework.  We are also progressing in our work to extend our outreach clinics into other women’s prisons around the country.

A Success Story:  Assisting a woman prisoner with her parole board hearing for her release

We recently assisted a woman prisoner with her parole board hearing for her release. At the first hearing, the Parole Board decided to adjourn the case to obtain a further psychological report on the prisoner.  This was unexpected, as in our view, her risk of reoffending was low. She had received a determinate sentence for manslaughter as a result of leaving her child unattended in the bath as a result of which he later died. Her second parole hearing took place in September and we were able to demonstrate that the risk of reoffending had lowered even further following a further number of courses she attended during the summer and also thanks to the positive psychological assessment. The prisoner has now been released and is keen to resume her relationship with her older son who has been in the care of his father throughout her time in prison.

Disabled Prisoners

During this reporting period, your donations have supported our Community Care Caseworker to deliver many advice clinics within 4 prisons: HMP Pentonville, HMP Thameside, HMP Wandsworth and HMP Leyhill, giving advice to prisoners in person. Having recently started running clinics at Leyhill prison, we have been able to reach the sizeable group of prisoners there who are elderly and are experiencing age-related healthcare complications. You have also supported her to deal with hundreds of telephone and letter enquiries, and to work on a number of ongoing cases advising disabled prisoners.

She recently submitted a response, on behalf of PAS, to a Consultation by the Care Quality Commission. This Consultation was considering the process of regulating health and social care in prisons. Given our experience in this field, including our work with disabled prisoners, we were invited by CLINKS (an umbrella organisation that supports voluntary organisations working with prisoners) to contribute to the discussion and to make suggestions on the draft proposals. Following the feedback received from us and other contributors, the Commission has now published its final handbook for providers of healthcare in prisons.

A Success Story: Resolving accommodation issue on release for elderly disabled wheelchair user suffering from cancer

Our Caseworker acted for a disabled prisoner in his 80s. The case had been referred to us by his parole solicitor. The parole panel had indicated that they wished to direct his release, but no suitable accommodation had been found. The second parole hearing date was approaching and still no suitable housing had been identified. The prisoner was a frail, elderly man with his left leg amputated above the knee; he was a wheelchair user. He had serious underlying health conditions including bowel and bladder cancer. His family had contacted the local authority, asking for him to be placed near them - so that they could provide support. The Probation Service had also made referrals, to no avail. This matter was resolved by our Caseworker through pre-action correspondence. Thanks to our involvement, an adequate community care assessment was conducted and a suitable address in a care home was found near his family. The parole board then directed the prisoner’s release.

Other PAS news

Legal Aid Cuts

Deborah Russo, our Joint Managing Solicitor and Laura Janes, the legal co-director at the Howard League for Penal Reform, recently wrote an article about the legal aid cuts for prisoners and our challenge to them, which can be read on The Justice Gap and the Legal Voice websites.

Outreach Clinics

During this reporting period, we started running outreach clinics in 2 new delivery sites for us: HMPs Leyhill and Eastwood Park (both in Gloucestershire). We also continued to run regular outreach clinics at a further 8 prisons in London, Kent, Surrey and West Yorkshire, namely: HMPs Belmarsh, East Sutton Park, Holloway, New Hall, Pentonville, Send, Thameside and Wandsworth.

National Independent Adjudicators’ Conference

Lubia Begum-Rob, one of our Joint Managing Solicitors, was invited to speak at the National Conference of Independent Adjudicators held in Northamptonshire in September.  Independent Adjudicators are specially trained Judges, who attend around 120 prisons in England & Wales to adjudicate on breaches of prison rules where an additional sentence of up to 42 days can be imposed. This was an opportunity for the Independent Adjudicators at the conference to hear about the work that PAS does, and to ask PAS questions they had about prisoners’ experience of the adjudication process.

New Trustees

Welcome to PAS to our four new Trustees!  Kassim Gaffar is a Chartered Accountant and a Director of a company that provides IT services to non-profit and social sector enterprises. Kassim has taken on the role of Treasurer for PAS. Jeanne Harrison is a Chartered Management Accountant and an Analyst for Moody's Investors Service. Rebecca Perlman manages and co-ordinates Herbert Smith Freehills’ pro bono practice in various regions. Jeremy Harrison is a Director of a company that provides training and consultancy in impact planning and measurement. These 4 new Trustees join our 6 existing Trustees and deepen the Board’s experience and diversity even further. We look forward to their involvement and contributions.

Also this month we said a temporary farewell to our Women Prisoners’ Caseworker, Kate Lill, who has gone on maternity leave. Providing maternity cover is Jane Finnis. Previously Jane worked as a solicitor advocate at a South London firm specialising in criminal law and prison law.

Thank you!

Thank you again for your important support which is making it possible for us to provide free legal advice to women prisoners and disabled prisoners on their rights. We will continue to update you on our progress on this project in the months to come.

Many thanks for your help,

PAS

• PAS' annual activities (DOCX)

Disabled Prisoners

Since February, your donations have supported our Community Care Caseworker to deliver 7 advice clinics within 4 prisons (HMPs Leyhill, Pentonville, Thameside and Wandsworth). She has provided one-to-one legal advice and assistance to 83 prisoners, many of whom have a disability or mental health problems. You have also supported her to deal with hundreds more telephone and letter enquiries. She has also been working on a number of ongoing cases advising disabled prisoners.

Better conditions for a terminally ill, disabled prisoner - you helped us achieve this!

Prisoner B was a terminally ill, disabled prisoner being held in a Category B prison, despite the fact that he was a lower (security) category prisoner (Category C). He was placed in an upstairs cell- with the result that he could not move around the prison. He was also given inadequate food for his medical condition and often relied on officers giving him their food. Our Community Care Caseworker intervened and got him moved to a Category C establishment. After we made representations to that establishment, he was further de-categorised to security category D. However, the prison refused to transfer him because of his medical needs, saying he was on medical hold. We resolved this through correspondence and he is now, finally, at an open prison – where his medical condition is better managed.

Women Prisoners

Since our last update on activities in February, your donations have enabled our Women Prisoners' Caseworker to deal with hundreds of telephone and letter enquiries, and to deliver 13 legal advice clinics in 5 women’s prisons (at HMPs East Sutton Park, Eastwood Park, Holloway, New Hall and Send). A further 15 clinics were delivered to women prisoners by Peer Advisers - prisoner volunteers who had been trained by our Caseworkers to provide basic legal information and advice to their fellow prisoners. We have helped over 221women prisoners in the past 6 months through the clinics alone, and hundreds more through the telephone calls, letters and casework. We are also progressing in our work to extend our clinics into other women’s prisons around the country, including HMPs Bronzefield, Foston Hall and Styal.

As you will recall, PAS took part in Global Giving’s “We Believe In Girls” 50% matched funding campaign that took place in March. Thanks to your generosity, we raised £2,044 in donations and £1,009 in matched funding (which put us 5^th out of the 246 charities involved in the campaign!) Thank you very much for your support.

A success story

Ms A was a life sentenced prisoner whom we recently represented pro bono. Legal aid is no longer available for these types of cases. Yet these are often the cases where prisoners require the most assistance to secure a transfer to open conditions prior to the expiry of their minimum term. Ms A had progressed as much as she possibly could throughout her nine years in custody and had the strongest possible case for consideration for a transfer to open conditions.  She had made use of her time in prison as constructively as she could and remained deeply remorseful of the incident which had given rise to the index offence. The panel of the Parole Board that heard her case shared the same view and recommended her transfer to open conditions.

Other PAS news

Challenging the Legal Aid Cuts for Prisoners

Earlier this month, PAS and the Howard League for Penal Reform gave evidence at the Court of Appeal hearing for our long-running campaign for a judicial review of the cuts on government funded legal aid for prisoners. PAS staff and volunteers attended the court to support this hearing (pictured above). In the judgement (released today), PAS and the Howard League won the right to challenge the legal aid cuts after the Court of Appeal ruled that there was a risk that the system could be unfair and unlawful. A press release on this development can be found here. The Guardian wrote an article on the ruling which can be read here.

PAS Panel Discussion

In May we held an enlightening and thought-provoking panel discussion at the offices of the Grosvenor Estate. About 100 guests attended this special event.  

Speaking on the topic “Does the European Convention on Human Rights provide adequate human rights protection to UK prisoners?” were:

• Nicola Padfield, Reader in Criminal and Penal Justice, University of Cambridge
• Eric Allison, prison correspondent for the Guardian
• Dirk van Zyl Smit, Professor of Comparative and International Penal Law, University of Nottingham
• Pete Weatherby QC, Garden Court North Chambers, Manchester
• Christopher McDonald, former PAS client

Paula Harriott gave a moving testimony about her experience of being a client of PAS in the past.

Thank You

Thank you again for your important support which is making it possible for us to provide free legal advice to women nd disabled prisoners on their rights. The situation is very challenging right now in prisons across the country. With the cuts in legal aid, many vulnerable people are being denied a voice. Please share this report with others so that we can continue to provide legal advice to all those in need. 

Many thanks for your help,

Adrian