Wrongly convicted - help please

[Rights Fighter]

I will if I ever get my mitts on the paperwork!

[0990]

im so sorry about your husbands sentance , my thoughts go out to you

[witsend]

Dear Sammi. So sorry to hear this news my thoughts are with you and your hubby. I can't even begin to imagine how you must both be feeling. Please keep in touch to let us know how you are both coping. my thoughts are with you.

[Sammi]

Hi Everyone - Sorry I have been a little quiet - has taken me a few weeks to get my head round everything thats happened but I am pleased to say I have things under control now and we are 3 weeks done - 61 more to go!!!

Hubby has had a really tough time and I have had enough run in's with the prison to last a lifetime - They took 6 days to give him his stuff that he arrived at the prison with, dressed him in a red tracksuit(only reseerved for sex offenders) and sent him out into the main wing where he was immediately threatened - nice start.
After this they gave him a grey tracksuit and put in in the VPU Unit.
He was not allowed to make any phone calls when he arrived at prison and it took them 8 days to set his PIN number up for the phone. He wrote me a letter 2.5 weeks ago that I have never recieved and had asked numerous times for a VO so we could go in and see him - which he got no response to at all.

My last call being to the prison today and demanding answers I finally got through to someone who said that it was her who dealt with incomming/outgoing mail and VO's and she was sorry that nothing had happened but she had been on holiday for 17 days and no one had covered her work - can you believe it!

She did however sort me a visit out straight away and I am going on Monday.

The Appeal is now fully lodged so all we can do is wait - I'm learning to gain patience through this if nothing else.

It has been lovely that so many supportive people are around me and my door is revolving, people drop by for a coffee evey day and my phone has never rung so much - this all gives me great strength. It also helps that hubby can call every day and although its hard hearing how tough things are in there - he sounds like he has got into a routine, he says Fri - Sun is the worst as it is 23 hour lock up. They have talked about him being moved to a cat c prison. so hopefully this wont take to long.
Thanks for all the great advice and support I recieved from all of you - Can't tell you how much it helped.

[LS]

Hi Sammi
Sorry to hear what's happened - the conviction in the first place, then the ruckus with the prison. That sounds quite extreme. I know my encounter with the prison service was no walk in the park, but nothing like as bad. I don't know what recourse he can take for the tracksuit shenanigans, as that could have turned very nasty, and something should be done to deter the prison from allowing that to recur.
Sadly, the phone calls/mail incident is not uncommon. In one of my initial prisons it took me 6 days to get some of my possessions to me, but to apparently not have anyone to cover for holiday is inexcusable.
I can only hope that as this is only a matter of days since the sentencing, that this would be a transitional prison and that he'd be moved somewhere more suitable, as the current one sounds like a local prison rather than a VPU main prison.
However, it's great that you've got supportive people around you as that'll help a lot. Wrap up warm for the visits - some prisons don't have waiting areas and one I could name in Yorkshire didn't even have any shelter for waiting visitors, and this time of the year is not great to be standing around in the cold in.
As you say, count the weeks. Two down.....

[Rights Fighter]

Hi Sammi

At least you got a reception visit after a bit of a struggle. Some prisons claim they do not do "reception visits" if an inmate is protesting his innocence. And of course don't forget - the prison chaplain can be very helpful if there is a period of silence and you are worried - hopefully hubby knows that he can make use of listeners as and when.


Let me know if you need any advice on appeal procedure. Obviously I can't help with the appeal itself at the moment but if you want to know anything about how it works etc you know where I am.

[Saffron]

Hi Sammi

Thanks for the update. I'm so sorry to hear of the trouble you and hubby had at first. Hopefully things will settle down a bit now. It took R over a week to be able to phone me, so I know what you went through. Luckily a friend of mine is mates with a prison officer at Belmarsh, where he was first sent, so she was able to advise me on procedures and what I could or couldn't send in.
Don't forget to take ID with you on your visit - you need photo ID such as driving licence or passport and ID with your address on it such as a bank statement or utility bill.
Every prison has different rules, and it's largely a question of trial and error finding out what they will allow you to take in for him.

I hope you have a good visit on Monday, I will be thinking of you