CASE STUDIES
COMMUNITY CARE
PAS's Community Care Caseworker represented an elderly prisoner (B) who had suffered from a stroke, resulting in his being unable to care for himself or communicate easily with other prisoners. Other prisoners had to feed him, wash him and generally care for him at a basic level. Upon being contacted by one of these prisoners, the PAS caseworker commissioned an independent care report for this case. The resulting recommendation was that the prison should be providing a carer to carry out these basic services for the elderly prisoner.
The PAS Caseworker threatened legal action against the Prison Service if they did not fulfil this recommendation. Within a week, a carer was being provided three times a day to feed, wash and care for B.
A medical prognosis then revealed that B in all probability had only a matter of days and weeks to live, and so the Community Care Caseworker began a compassionate release application on his behalf. The case was typical insofar as B could not be considered for release until appropriate accommodation became available; the extent of his care needs entailed that supported nursing accommodation would be required in his case, and the Probation Service were unaware of how to access this for him.
Despite B's condition, the Secretary of State did not deem the situation urgent due to the absence of suitable release accommodation. Furthermore the Primary Care Trust that conducted B's assessments would not consider the situation urgent until there had been a decision to release the prisoner. The Local Authority refused to undertake a Community Care Assessment, or to provide a care plan which would allow release to be considered.
A legal challenge to the Secretary of State was made in regard of this matter, on the additional grounds that B did not pose any risk to the public, and that the relevant local authorities were statutorily obliged to provide the community care services that B was due under law. Proceedings issued in relation to The Local Authority eventually produced a care plan and provision of services and this fed into his successful application for compassionate release, two weeks following the prognosis.
B was released and transferred to London, where he spent the last few weeks of his life with his family. Such instances of compassionate release sadly remain very rare – the hospice that serves the HMP Norwich elderly lifer unit said that this was the first such case that they were aware of.
RESETTLEMENT LEAVE
A category D prisoner with a 16-year sentence had progressed to open conditions, but as a result of a consecutive sentence imposed upon him due to non-payment of a confiscation order, was told that his eligibility dates for resettlement leave had changed, according to a blanket prison policy.
The upshot was that he would have 6 weeks' resettlement leave at most. The prisoner had a young daughter he had never seen and an ill father, and had had previous resettlement leave without incident.
PAS's Managing Solicitor thus took the decision to judicial review, and as a result the prisoner's resettlement leave was recalculated. It has also led to a new policy in the prison estate for prisoners with consecutive sentences placed on them due to non-payment of confiscation orders, by which their resettlement leave will be subject to individual assessment.
DEALING WITH EMERGENCY ISSUES
The PAS clinic at HMP Send gives face-to-face advice to women prisoners on a Saturday every four to six weeks. The following case study illustrates its importance.
One recent client, Ms B was in prison for ten months for her first offence. She was also fighting deportation back to Jamaica on the basis that her two children are settled in the UK. Although their relationship had long been over, Ms B's former partner Mr G, had moved in with her children, along with a relative, Ms C, while Ms B had been in prison.
Ms B's immigration solicitor, who had previously helped Mr G (an Iranian national) to obtain asylum in the UK, told her that Mr G had not yet returned child A's original birth certificate and status documents because they were with the Iranian Embassy. This raised suspicions with the PAS caseworker, amplified when Ms B said that Ms C had found two flight tickets to Tehran for the following Saturday belonging to Mr G. The PAS Caseworker promised Ms B she would find her a specialist solicitor to ensure Mr G did not flee the country with her child.
The Caseworker then telephoned Ms C, who tells her that Mr G left the flat with the child and two large suitcases that morning. The Caseworker attempted to obtain emergency orders from the High Court, and finally managed to contact one of the top child abduction specialists in the country, who told here that if the child has left Ms B would never see her again.
The Caseworker, now panicked, continued to call the High Court, while checking with Ms C to see Mr G had returned with the child. Finally, at 10pm, the child was returned to the house.
Flights to Tehran leave every Saturday, so the child abduction specialist took on the case, and on the following Tuesday obtained a court order protecting the child from abduction. Ms B was released soon after and returned to her home with her children - her appeal against deportation was also allowed on all grounds
RACE DISCRIMINATION
PAS's Race Discrimination Caseworker frequently deals with cases where prisoners report that they have been assaulted by prison staff. Due to the way in which Legal Aid is structured for prison law, aid cannot be claimed for cases of assault. PAS is able to take such an assault claim on as a pro bono case, and will immediately (i.e. within 24-48 hours) do the following, rather than waiting for the case to be referred to a specialist, which would cause an unnecessary and unacceptable delay:
- Contact the prison governor to demand that the CCTV coverage for the relevant time be preserved;
- Help the prisoner with his complaint, and with referring this to the police for criminal investigation;
- Help the prisoner to follow this complaint through to the ombudsman;
- Make a record of the prisoner's injuries, and arrange for photographs to be taken for evidence;
- Help with, and advise on, the prisoner's adjudication hearing;
- Work to have the prisoner taken off the 'E' list (escape list) – frequently in such cases, the prisoner will be placed on the 'E' list by the prison in order to justify the officers' behaviour.
Only after all this has been achieved would PAS refer the prisoner to a civil litigator.