HMP SEND
‹ RETURN TO OUTREACHDEBORAH RUSSO, WOMEN PRISONERS’ CASEWORKER AT PAS SINCE 2004
EXPLAINS JUST WHY THE PAS CLINIC AT HMP SEND CAN BE ABSOLUTELY VITAL.
The PAS clinic at HMP Send was successfully set up by Ian Brownhill, our locum Women Prisoners’ Caseworker who covered the post during my second maternity leave in 2008-9. Prior to the clinic at HMP Send, we had run one very successfully at HMP Downview. We also run surgeries at present at HMP East Sutton Park.
The beauty of the clinic at HMP Send is that it ‘runs itself’, thanks to a dedicated team of women prisoners trained by PAS to provide basic advice and assistance to fellow inmates. The prisoners run the clinic every fortnight on a Saturday. I and a volunteer solicitor or barrister then attend the clinic every 4 to 6 weeks to give face-to-face advice to prisoners whose issues are not successfully resolved through the self-run clinic.
Prisoners coordinating the clinic gain useful practical skills which they in turn have used in gaining accredited NVQs in related vocational areas. This gives prisoners confidence in their abilities, and provides them with the opportunity to lead and be in charge of a key service that has time and time again proved vital to prisoners. The clinic provides an excellent opportunity for coordinators, and a vital service for its users. It has frequently been observed that women prisoners, unlike male prisoners, generally avoid confrontation for fear of repercussions upon making a complaint. They do not openly seek help and would rather keep their head down…
The PAS clinic reaches to women prisoners in a way that makes them seek help if they need it. This is thanks to the coordinators who are based in the resettlement unit, but who also reach out to women in ‘main block’ to inform them of our services. The coordinators also perform the fundamental duty of introducing our services to all new prisoners every Tuesday, by explaining what help they can give and by providing a very useful leaflet created and designed by the coordinators themselves. Having coordinators involved means that prisoners feel more at ease getting in touch with our service and avoids making PAS feel alien to them. Further, the clinic is now well established and has an excellent reputation amongst long-term prisoners who spread the word making newcomers confident that their problem, whatever it may be, will be treated professionally by PAS.
On Saturday 21 August 2010 my volunteer solicitor and I head to our session as any other Saturday morning: on the 8.50 train from Waterloo. We arrive at the jail and as usual our visit is treated with surprise by staff at the gate, notwithstanding the fact that our visits have been held regularly every 4 to 6 weeks for the past two years… Eventually we are escorted down to the clinic, which is set up in the resettlement unit. As usual, there are between 15 and 20 women sitting neatly in a queue to see us. We have two hours to see them all, and we allocate each accordingly to ensure we spend the maximum time available with all of them.
I see a number of prisoners before seeing Ms B. She tells me that she is of Jamaican origin and is in prison for a period of ten months (so would only be serving five) for the imposition of a fake stamp on her passport. This is her first offence. She has two children and both are currently with her Auntie who is temporarily residing in her flat in Hackney. Ms B goes on to tell me that her former partner Mr G, an Iranian national, has now moved in with the children, although their relationship ended in November 2008. The youngest child, two year old A, is his daughter.
Ms B tells me that Mr G recently obtained asylum to remain in the UK on the basis that if returned to Iran he would be persecuted by his family for having had a child with a Jamaican woman. She shows me a letter from an immigration solicitor addressed to her. Her immigration solicitor is representing both her and Mr G. Ms B is fighting deportation back to Jamaica on the basis that her children are settled in the UK. The letter states that Mr G had not yet returned child A’s original birth certificate and status documents because these were with the Iranian Embassy. Alarm bells start ringing… I suspect the documents are with the Iranian Embassy because Mr G is applying for a passport for the child.
Ms B then tells me that her Auntie found two flight tickets directed for Iran, and that the flight is meant to leave the following Saturday, 28 August 2010. I try not to panic, as she is distressed enough. I ask for as many details as possible. I ask for the Auntie’s telephone number and promise her I would find her a specialist solicitor to ensure Mr G does not flee the country with the child. I feel an enormous weight on my shoulders: the fate of this child depends on me.
The clinic ends at 11.45. I leave with the volunteer solicitor and we panic. We decide to head to Hackney to take a statement from the Auntie. We meet her in a café in Dalston, and she tells us that Mr G left the flat with the child and two large suitcases that morning. We take a detailed statement… and then wonder what to do next.
I get home and spend the remainder of the day attempting to obtain emergency orders from the High Court… I then finally receive a call back from one of the top child abduction specialists in the country. She tells me she is suspicious of the father leaving with the two large suitcases and thinks the child must have already left the country. She tells me flights to Iran leave from Heathrow every Saturday and that if the child has left Ms B will never see her again. I spend Sunday calling the High Court and the Auntie checking if Mr G is back with the child. Finally, the child is returned at 10pm that evening. There is still time to stop him from leaving the following Saturday as he scheduled…
The child abduction specialist takes on the case, and on the following Tuesday obtains orders protecting the child from abduction.
I recently received an update and was informed that Ms B was released on 22 September 2010 and returned to her home with her children. The Court has kept in place the Port Alert and the father’s passports continue to be held by the Tipstaff in the High Court. I was also informed that her appeal against deportation was allowed on all grounds.