Sarah remembered 9 years on…
Written by: Tippa Naphtali
16th January 2012
This article has been reproduced to mark the 9th anniversary of Sarah’s death: Her mother speaks >
The 18th January 2012 marks 9 years since the death of Sarah Campbell, who took her own life after critical failings in the duty of care owed to her by the officers and staff of Styal Prison, Cheshire.
Her mother, Pauline Campbell, took to an unflinching journey of protest and quest for justice and reforms, which saw her arrested at several demonstrations outside women’s prisons. Sadly, 5 years later, Pauline also took her own life still torn with a mother’s grief from the loss of her only child.
Pauline had been a tireless campaigner against deaths of women in custody since the tragic death of her daughter, and she was awarded the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize in October 2005. The prize is awarded each year to a woman or group who has, through their actions, writing or campaigning; raised awareness of violence against women and children.
United families launch 100,000 No:10 petition
The United Families & Friends Campaign (UFFC) have launched an ambitious petition appeal that calls for an independent judicial inquiry into all suspicious deaths in custody.
The United Families & Friends Campaign (UFFC) is a coalition of families and friends of those that have died in the custody of police and prison officers as well as those who died in psychiatric and immigration detention. It also has members and supporters from campaign groups and advocacy organisations from across the UK.
The Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody report published in 2011 states: in total, there were 5,998 deaths recorded for the 11 years from 2000 to 2010. This is an average of 545 deaths per year. Despite the fact there have been 11 unlawful killing verdicts since 1990 there has never been a successful prosecution.
US civil rights veteran, Rev Jesse Jackson supports the inquiry campaign.
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Campaign representatives have said; “Our joint efforts have yielded some results. However, these have not addressed the lack of justice in outstanding cases.
“We believe that equitable dispensation justice in the UK must be done and be seen to be done if the general public are to enjoy high levels of trust and confidence in the fair administration of justice. ”The poor quality and speed of independent investigations conducted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and an Inquest process that is seriously under resourced, subject to delay and limited in remit and is not fit for purpose. Both critically fail to protect or support the rights of victims or their families”.
New law will send women to jail needlessly, peers warn
originally by: The Independent
15th January 2012
Thousands of women will be sent to jail needlessly if new criminal justice legislation is allowed into law in its current form, a group of cross-party peers warn this weekend ahead of a vote in the House of Lords.
A new Ministry of Justice bill on sentencing must be changed radically to take account of women, they say, if the Government is to reduce the growing number of women being given custodial sentences. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishing Offenders Bill (LASPO), which currently contains no reference to women offenders in the entire document, will shepherd more women into a prison system designed for men, critics claim.
More than four thousand women, or five per cent of the prison population, are currently held behind bars – a number which has increased by nearly a third in the last decade. But the Government’s ‘gender blind’ approach to offenders mean women are being sent into a justice system that is failing them, according to the group of peers, who stress that most of them should not be going to prison at all.
