Appeal court orders release of severely disabled prisoner

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/feb/08/appeal-court-release-disabled-prisoner

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The appeal court has shown "exceptional mercy" to a severely disabled prisoner, releasing him from prison early after his lawyers argued the prison service could not meet his complex medical needs.

Daniel Roque Hall suffers from Friedreich's ataxia, a degenerative disease, that affects co-ordination of the whole body. It causes a heart defect that requires constant monitoring, as well as diabetes. Hall said it felt "tremendous to be going home".

Hall, 31, uses a wheelchair and has a life expectancy of 35 to 40 years. Last July, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to importing two and a half kilos of cocaine into Heathrow. The drugs, hidden in his wheelchair, had been smuggled from Peru, where Hall and a carer had been on holiday.

The trial judge accepted that Hall had been "groomed and manipulated" by drug dealers and, aware of his condition, sought assurances from the prison service that Hall's complex medical needs would be met in custody. The governor of Wormwood Scrubs, in west London, assured the judge that the prison would provide the round-the-clock care and monitoring that Hall requires, as well as a stretching programme needed to keep him stable.

According to Hall's family and lawyers, within hours of admittance to the prison he suffered a spasm and fell from an examination couch, sustaining a head wound. He was taken in handcuffs to a care home for elderly people.

Back in Wormwood Scrubs, Hall suffered further spasms and says he was constantly denied his full medication.

Hall's condition deteriorated rapidly and in the early hours of 23 August he was rushed to University College hospital, London, and placed on a life support machine. A consultant at the hospital said Hall's heart had been "stunned" by his treatment at the prison. His GP says his life will be threatened if he is sent back to prison.

Last year campaigners, including the poet Benjamin Zephaniah and MP John McDonnell, signed an open letter printed in the Guardian calling for Hall to complete his sentence at home.

In January, a high court judge granted Hall an injunction preventing his return to prison. He ordered his case to be fast-tracked to the court of appeal, bypassing the single judge stage of the appeal process.

Three appeal court judges on Friday said Hall's was a case "appropriate for an exceptional application of mercy" and reduced his sentence from three years to 18 months, meaning he will be discharged from hospital to his home, where his round-the-clock care will continue.

Roque Hall said it was "tremendous to be going home, where I can hopefully recuperate fully." He expressed his thanks to his mother, all his supporters and to his lawyers. He said he was immensely grateful to the staff at UCH who, "without doubt, have saved my life".

Lawyers Andrew Sperling and Rikki Garg of Scott-Moncrieff who represented Roque Hall said: "There is no doubt that the crime committed by Mr Roque Hall was serious. However, the nature of his numerous physical problems and short life expectancy means that a prison sentence has had a devastating effect upon him. The court of appeal has made a compassionate and just decision to allow him to return home where he will receive the care that he needs."