PRESS RELEASE: VIGIL OUTSIDE APPEAL COURT
to
keep DANIEL ROQUE HALL out of prison
Tuesday 5 February 2013 - 9.30am
Royal Courts of
Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Info: 07958 152 171
Five months after nearly dying in Wormwood Scrubs, Daniel’s appeal
against his prison sentence will be heard on Tuesday! An
injunction preventing UCLH from discharging him to Wormwood Scrubs has been
in place since 1 January.
This is a significant victory for
Daniel, his determined mother and supporters who have been campaigning to
save his life, and his dedicated new legal team. Also as of last night, the two prison
guards who have been at Daniel’s bedside 24/7 for five months have been told
that they must now remain OUTSIDE his room – some privacy at last!
At the appeal, Daniel will argue that
the three year prison sentence he was given was disproportionate and a breach
of his human rights given the severity of his disabilities and the risk to
his life. Shamefully, because the
Royal Courts of Justice are not accessible enough to allow him to be present
in person, Daniel will give evidence by video-link from hospital. He will argue that Wormwood Scrubs’ claim
that it could provide for his complex care needs has been discredited by the
neglect that landed him in intensive care after only seven weeks in prison;
it has taken five months of specialist care in hospital for him to partially
recover.
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Daniel Roque
Hall
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John Podmore, former governor of Brixton prison told The
Guardian: "Managing somebody with chronic, advanced ataxia
disease in a prison setting would be virtually impossible without bringing in
considerable resources or diverting them from somewhere else, and the
pressures on a prison hospital in London are considerable and not conducive
to an environment required by someone with such a disability . . .”
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Social work professionals wrote to the Guardian: “Despite the insistence of the governor,
Wormwood Scrubs cannot and will not provide the level of expertise and care
he requires. We therefore urge the minister to ensure that Daniel serve the
remainder of his sentence at a suitable place of confinement, properly
adapted to his needs, or tagged at home.” More
Daniel’s mother Anne Hall is
leading the campaign to save his life:
“UCLH saved my son’s life and I will be eternally grateful to all the
wonderful staff who have provided dedicated and expert care to
Daniel, day and night. They could not have done
more. No UK prison can meet his complex care needs. To send him back would amount to a death sentence – he has already
been punished far in excess of the three years he was given.”
New Year’s Eve – Carers, friends, and supporters gather outside Wormwood
Scrubs calling for Daniel to be allowed to serve the rest of his sentence at
home.
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DANIEL ROQUE HALL
Session: 2012-13 Date tabled: 24.10.2012
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John McDonnell MP has tabled an Early Day Motion – 18 MPs have signed it
so far.
That this House notes that Daniel Roque
Hall is a 30-year-old severely disabled man with Friedreich's
Ataxia, a multi-system and fatal illness, now so advanced that he cannot use
his arms or legs, has blurred vision, damaged speech, heart failure, cardiac
arrhythmia and Type 1 diabetes; further notes that he was imprisoned for
attempting to bring cocaine into this country, but recognises
that, given the seriousness of his condition and the complexity of his care
needs, prison is not suitable for him, bearing in mind that seven weeks
through his three-year sentence he was taken to hospital where he remains two
months later after spending over a week in intensive care; further notes that
his mother, his GP, the former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Lord Ramsbotham, disability and other organisations,
including Ataxia UK, Liberty and WinVisible and over 1,400 people who signed
a petition, have warned that a return to prison would amount to a death
sentence for him; welcomes the decision of the Secretary of State for the
Home Department to stop the extradition of Gary McKinnon because it would
subject him to inhuman and degrading treatment and endanger his life; and
calls on the Secretary of State to show the same compassion to Daniel Roque Hall by allowing him to serve the rest of his
sentence at home, where he can receive the appropriate care and medical
support and be supervised by probation services.
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For more
information contact:
WinVisible Facebook
Global Women’s
Strike www.globalwomenstrike.net 0207
482 2496
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Tuesday 5 February 2013
