25 charities call on Labour to free Gaie Delap just as she’s given 20 more days in prison

Climate protester Gaie Delap has been told that she must serve a further 20 days in prison for being “unlawfully at large” – just as 25 leading charities call on the Labour government to release her.

Gaie Delap: a travesty and injustice

Gaie’s additional 20 days is accounted for by the days that followed Serco/EMS’s report of 28 November on their failure to fit an appropriate tag on her wrist, and her eventual return to prison just before Christmas. During this time, waiting to be arrested, she was fully compliant with her curfew and did nothing wrong.

As has been previously disclosed, Serco/EMS reported they were unable to fit a tag because their smallest straps were too big for her wrists, despite them being within the usual range for UK females.

EMS also reported the reason for breach as “refusal for install [sic]”, saying Gaie “would not let us install Electronic Equipment during our visits”. This was a lie. She has never refused a tag or any other EMS Electronic Equipment.

Instead of being released on the expected date of 17 March as stated in her recall papers, Gaie has now been informed by prison authorities that she will be kept in prison until 7 April. Her recall will have cost the public purse £20,000.

Family and friends, in parallel with legal approaches, have appealed to Labour Party minister Shabana Mahmood, secretary of state for justice who made the decision to recall, to use her discretionary powers to rescind this decision.

Growing disquiet

This latest news coincides with the release of an open letter from twenty-five charities calling on Shabana Mahmood to revoke Gaie’s recall to prison to ensure her re-release on Home Detention Curfew under conditions that respect her health and dignity.

You can read the open letter here. Part of it says that “this situation is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of failures associated with private contractors managing electronic monitoring services. Notably, Serco has previously been implicated in overcharging the UK government for electronic tagging, including billing for individuals who were deceased, incarcerated, or had left the country”:

These historical and ongoing issues underscore the systemic problems inherent in outsourcing critical public services to private entities without adequate oversight.

Mick Delap, Gaie’s brother said:

How come that it has proved so impossible to fit this normal-sized woman, who desperately wants to have electronic monitoring, with any one of the many different forms of monitoring available to the authorities? That was true of the time she was waiting at home, and has continued to be true in the month since she has been back in prison.

How come that there has been a deafening silence from the Ministry of Justice since Gaie’s return to prison despite numerous appeals from her family, friends and her MP?

And, perhaps most crucially, how come those with ultimate responsibility for the proper functioning of Serco/EMS – the MoJ and Parliament – are so blatantly failing to hold them to account?

Free Gaie Delap

Family friend Mike Campbell added:

A flawed process led to Gaie’s recall. This will cost the taxpayer up to £20,000. Her re-incarceration represents a clear miscarriage of justice. She now faces double jeopardy, two punitive measures resulting solely from the unavailability of suitable electronic monitoring equipment. This is a cruel decision.

Our criminal justice and penal system has failed, in Gaie’s case, to meet the standards of proportionality, fairness, and respect for human dignity that should be the cornerstone of justice in the UK. Immediate action is required to correct this systemic failing not just for the sake of Gaie, but of hundreds of women being failed by the system.

The Ministry of Justice will know how to access a number of electronic monitoring devices suitable for use by Gaie. There is no possible reason for one of these not to be fitted while she is in prison and then released.

Featured image via the Canary