Peterborough prison death family ‘treading water’

woman in jail cellsource: BBC News
published: 14 October 2019

The family of a woman who died in prison while serving an indefinite term say they feel like they are treading water after an inquest into her death was delayed.

Charlotte Nokes, 38, was sentenced to 15 months but had served more than eight years at the time of her death on 23 July 2016 at HMP Peterborough.

Her family want answers about her death but are struggling with legal costs. An inquest was due to be heard at Huntingdon Coroner’s Court on Monday.

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The cuts that broke the justice system

Blind justice lawsource: Politics.co.uk
published: 26 November 2018

Leaking roofs, seats held together with gaffer tape, flooded toilets, broken heating and broken plug sockets. If our hospitals or schools looked like this, there’d be a public outcry. But these are our courts, so no-one really cares.

The cuts to criminal justice have become visible in the furniture of the court system, but they go much further than that. They are eroding the basic principles it operates under.

Next year, legal aid reaches its 70th birthday. It is a landmark principle that justice should be free to everyone, that publicly-funded legal advice should be available to those accused of a crime by the state.

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Britain is failing young people [detained] in custody

Domiciliary Prison

source: The Guardian
published: 17 August 2017

The neglect of young people represents state-sanctioned child abuse, argue Deborah Coles, Prof Joe Sim and Prof Steve Tombs from INQUEST.

INQUEST’s work with bereaved families has consistently revealed a litany of systemic neglect, violence, institutional complacency and short-sighted policies which contribute to the deaths and harm of children and young people (Report on Northants children’s prison finds rise in violent incidents, 9 August).

These deaths are the most extreme outcome of a system that fails some of society’s most disadvantaged children and young people.

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