Blog entry 5th July 2019
My parole dossier was disclosed to me late last month. Its contents are nothing less than I expected. My legal team will now prepare my representations in rebuttal. In some instances report authors have tried so hard to portray me in as negative manner as possible that the lack of objectivity is blatantly obvious. My legal team and I are now waiting for the date of my parole panel to be set.
In the meantime I am working daily on my appeal application so that it may be submitted to the CCRC (Criminal Cases Review Commission). I am hoping to have submitted it by early August. A recent legal ruling at the Court of Appeal has given me added hope that the CCRC will refer my case to the Court of Appeal. With the factors this new ruling establishes in conjunction with the proof I have that the police and CPS withheld crucial evidence benefitting my defence, there is a strong argument that had the jury in my case heard all of the withheld evidence reasonable doubt would have been established to produce a not guilty verdict.
I am now waiting for a Civil Court hearing date for the claim I am bringing against the prison (The Ministry of Justice and the Governor of HMP Wakefield) for obstruction and negligence in the facilitation of my distance learning studies. Despite the successful judicial review another prisoner and I brought against HMP Wakefield in 2011, the prison still believes that it may actively disengage with prisoners pursuing higher education through distance learning without being held accountable.
This is a shameful state of affairs. Independent professional reviews have all shown that education is the only proven course of intervention within the penal system that reduces re-offending. Yet no one who oversees the management of HMP Wakefield questions why its prisoners have to pursue court cases against them to access education that is appropriate for them.