I am grateful to Pauline Campbell for updating me on the result of the inquiry into Sheena Kotecha’s untimely, unnecessary and brutal death at the hands of the state. Privatised institutions employ staff at cut rates of pay and this is what we get. More.
In 2004 I wrote of my experience of meeting the family just as they learned of the beloved daughter’s death the previous evening. Jamnadas Vadhia had been visiting her at Brockhill Prison where he took her fruit to perform Hindu rituals. It was the only way to get nutritious food to Sheena who had two stone.
At the time the Leicester Mercury had likened the story to Bonny and Clyde. Their reporting today looks a bit different. All it did at the time was to hide the reality in order to get a bit of sensational reporting. I hope they remember this disgrace.

Continue reading →

A high profile conference will take place in London in July at which Pauline Campbell has agreed to speak;
International Conference on Penal Abolition
New Speaker added to the agenda
We are pleased to announce the addition of campaigner and penal abolitionist, Pauline Campbell, to the ICOPA line up. Pauline became involved in the campaign for penal abolition following the death of her daughter Sarah, whilst ‘in the care’ of Styal Prison in 2003. She was just 18.
Pauline is one of the leading figues in England and Wales calling for the closure of women’s prisons. She has, to date, organised 28 demonstrations, been arrested 15 times and been charged 5 times. She is currently awaiting criminal trial following a demonstration outside Styal Prison in February this year.
She said, “Where there is injustice, there will be protest. And long may the spirit of protest remain alive and well in our democratic society.”
She joins BBC Journalist and ex-prisoner Raphael Rowe, and leading human rights lawyer, Imran Khan, to discuss ‘Penal Abolition, the media and the public’.

Continue reading →

The prison system is indefensible, not least in the way that women prisoners are treated. It is acknowledged over and over that those in prison need medical help. Because it is indefensible the government and its agents get tough. They hate to hear the truth. So people like Pauline Cambell are beaten up and taken to trial. Why? Because her daughter died in an inhumane institution, and yes she’s angry.
If people in our prisons are treated like garbage what do we expect the outcome to be? David Blunkett toured South Africa to tell us about using warehouses for prisons – and he’s a member of New Labour!!! Meanwhile in Scandinavia small local prisons are the thing where families can remain in touch more easily, rather than the end of civilisation as we know it.
The following is from Pauline Campbell and now a few day’s old:
Outcome of pre-trial review
Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court, Hibel Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 2AB
Wednesday 9 April 2008, 1130-1245 hrs
Defendant: Pauline Campbell
Summary
* Court has today announced a three-day criminal trial, to be held at Knutsford Crown Court, Wednesday 30 July 2008-Friday 1 August 2008.
* Application for legal aid has been refused, on the grounds of ‘interests of justice’.
* The Crown intends to call 13 witnesses to give evidence against me, making a total of 18 witnesses in all.
* Unconditional bail was granted.
Background to case
1. Arrest and charge (obstructing the highway): 5 February 2008, at a prison-death demonstration outside Styal Prison, to protest against the death of the young mother Lisa Marley, who died on 23 January 2008 in the care of the jail. Thirty-two year old Ms Marley was on remand, and therefore legally innocent when she died.
2. Court hearing: 27 February 2008 – ‘not guilty plea’ entered [Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court].
3. A pre-trial review was held on 19 March 2008, also in Macclesfield.
Today’s hearing
* The hearing took place before a panel of lay magistrates: Mrs Saunders (chair); Dr Sharma (male); and Mr Fryer, and I was unrepresented in court today.
* Clerk of the Court (“Senior Legal Adviser”) was Mrs Warren. She declined to answer my question about whether or not she was a qualified solicitor.
* CPS Prosecutor: Mr Jonathan McGahan (solicitor), based at the Crewe office.
* The court agreed to my request for the case to be transferred to another magistrates’ court in Cheshire. The trial will be held in Knutsford; venue: Knutsford Crown Court, Sessions House, Toft Road, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 0PB.
* At the start of today’s hearing, my legal aid position was still unclear, and I told the court this would need to be resolved before a trial date was set, to enable me to check if my lawyers were available on the suggested trial date. I further explained that, if my legal aid application was refused, it would be even more important that I speak to lawyers before agreeing to a date, as I would be dependent on lawyers acting pro-bono.
* Hickman and Rose, Solicitors, London, made an application for legal aid on my behalf on 28 February 2008, and again on 7 April 2008. I insisted the “Senior Legal Adviser” make enquiries about my legal aid status. I was told my application had not met the criteria necessary to meet the ‘interests of justice’ test. Despite my earlier request, the court insisted on fixing a trial date.
* The 13 witnesses for the Crown include police officers; Styal Prison staff; GSL prison van staff; and a local authority highways representative. Had these written statements been acceptable to me, fewer witnesses could have attended court. However, I told the court that I was not prepared to accept some of the statements, as they included factual inaccuracies and some outrageous comments about me, which will need to be challenged in court by my lawyers.
* The court has instructed me that legal issues and case law to be argued must be served by 30 June 2008.
* The CPS has still not provided all the necessary statements; two GSL statements are outstanding.
* New information was again handed to me in court today, including a statement from a GSL prisoner escort officer: page one of the statement included a glaring error about my late daughter – that she “had committed suicide [sic] in Styal”. I protested about this factual inaccuracy to the bench, and said the jury did not return a ‘suicide’ verdict at my daughter’s inquest, and I did not want to be confronted with such insensitive and inaccurate statements again in court.

Continue reading →