Latest news with #HMPDovegate
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Female prison guards are having to strip search the top half of transgender criminals before male colleagues check their lower regions in bizarre new jail ruling
Female prison guards are having to strip search the top half of transgender inmates before male colleagues check their lower region, MailOnline has learned. In a bizarre procedural ruling, jail guards are doubling up when searching transgender inmates who leave prison for hospital appointments or court appearances. Trans criminals caged at HMP Dovegate have reported two female guards are used to check the top half of their bodies while two male colleagues check below the belt. The inmates subjected to the searches say they feel 'humiliated and violated' by the additional checks by male officers, which leaves their confidence 'shattered'. However, women's rights campaigners have this morning lashed out and accused the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of breaching the 'human rights' of female officers. Kellie-Jay Keen, a gender-critical activist, insisted the Government should not 'be spending any resources on 'facilitating humiliated' trans prisoners behind bars. Speaking to MailOnline, she added: 'I don't think those female officers should be subjected to searching them at all and I wonder if it infringes on the human rights of female prison officers and whether their employer is breaking the law.' News of the searches was revealed in prison magazine Inside Times by an inmate at Dovegate - a category B male facility in Staffordshire, which houses 1,160 prisoners. Prisoners at the cushy lock-up benefit from in-cell yoga and chess, a choir, and plots to grow vegetables and flowers. The jail, which boasts of having the UK's only privately run purpose-built therapeutic facility, has also been ridiculed in the past for using 'therapy ducks' to help reform criminals. Writing in their letter to Inside Times about their alleged treatment, the trans inmate said: 'The policy is that when either entering or leaving the prison for court, hospital appointments, etc, we have the top half of our body searched by two female officers, who will then leave us to get dressed. Then two male officers search the bottom half of our body. 'I have been subjected to these undignified and downright humiliating searches countless times. The negative impact that they have on my mental health is incredible. 'I feel humiliated, violated, and my confidence is shattered each time. Most, if not all, transgender people are self-conscious about their bodies, so forcing us to reveal our post- or mid-transition bodies is both inhumane and traumatic. 'Many trans people in and out of prison may feel the same as I do about these searches, so let's do something about it.' The inmate has demanded that trans prisoners should instead be searched using an X-ray scanner, and said they have written to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood. 'An X-ray machine is arguably more thorough than a strip-search anyway and makes the process less traumatic for transgender women in prison,' they said, adding: 'This would save us the distress of having to strip naked from the waist down in front of two male officers.' The prison is run by government security contractor, Serco. Insiders have claimed transgender and searching policies are both national issues and not set by Serco. 'The body scanner is an additional search method and does not replace the search of prisoners,' an HMP Dovegate source added. 'Staff at HMP Dovegate recognise the sensitivity of the situation while being aware of the security considerations and as per the policy, the prisoner is informed of the need for the search and is involved in the decision making process as to the sex of the officers completing the search.' Justice sources said checks at the jail are carried out in accordance with the national 'searching policy framework' and the 'care and management of individuals who are transgender policy framework'. MailOnline understands these policies are being reviewed following a Supreme Court ruling last month about transgender people. In a landmark legal decision that could have far-reaching consequences, the UK's most senior judges ruled the definition of a woman is based on biological sex.
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Daily Mail
Three men appear in court over death of mother, 62, killed in golf course 'hit and run' in front of her helpless husband
Three men charged with the manslaughter of a woman who was killed at a golf course by a van that was being followed by police have appeared in court. Suzanne Cherry, 62, died in hospital four days after she was hit by the grey Nissan, which had been involved in a police pursuit, at Aston Wood Golf Club on the edge of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands. John McDonald, 51, Johnny McDonald, 22, and Brett Delaney, 34, appeared via videolink from HMP Dovegate during a preliminary hearing at Wolverhamton Crown Court. Ms Cherry, a company director and mother-of-three from Aldridge, West Midlands, was airlifted to hospital after being hit by the van on April 11. Two police cars had been following the van after receiving reports of suspicious activity, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said. However, they stopped chasing the vehicle when it went off-road and up an embankment at the golf club, where it hit Ms Cherry. John McDonald, from Bloxwich, Walsall, who has also been charged with assault by beating, Johnny McDonald, of Dudley, and Delaney, from Darlaston, Walsall, sat together in a prison conference room during the brief hearing this lunchtime. The defendants spoke only to confirm their names and were told by Judge Chambers that the next hearing they face will be at Stafford Crown Court where they can enter their pleas to the charges they face. Adjourning the case until a plea and directions hearing on May 23, Judge Chambers told the defendants they would at that point 'be asked if you plead guilty or not guilty to these charges.' The judge added: 'You have an absolute right to trial. 'In the meantime, you must remain in custody.' On Sunday, Ms Cherry's husband Clinton Harrison described how he watched in 'helpless horror' as her life was 'snatched away in an instant'. He had been on the first tee with his wife when she was hit. Paying tribute to his wife in a statement released by police, Mr Harrison said: 'On Friday 11 April, while enjoying what should have been the safest of one of Suzanne's many activities, I watched in helpless horror as the life of my beautiful wife and our future together was snatched away in an instant. 'Suzanne had an amazing and infectious zest for life which touched everyone who was fortunate enough to know her. 'She was unselfish, always ready to encourage with love and support those around her to achieve more than they themselves thought possible.' He said his wife left a 'legacy and an unfillable void' in the lives of her mother Maureen, her three adult children, two step-children and 'countless others from her work, her sporting activities and social circle'. Mr Harrison said: 'Sue was loved, and will be painfully missed by her entire family and friends, we ask that our privacy at this difficult time be respected.' The incident happened at around 10.25am on Friday, April 11. Officers had first started following the van in Kingstanding, Birmingham, the IOPC said. The police watchdog is continuing to investigate the circumstances prior to the collision when West Midlands Police officers were responding to the vehicle being involved in reports of suspicious activity. The defendants were charged on Monday, and made their first court appearance at North Staffordshire Justice Centre. A charge of failing to stop a vehicle when directed by a constable against John McDonald has been withdrawn.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Yahoo
Alleged Hamas supporter livestreamed arrival into UK on small boat, court hears
An alleged Palestinian gunman who reportedly called for the slaughter of Jews livestreamed his illegal arrival into the UK on a small boat, a court has heard. Abu Wadee, 33, also known as Mosab Abdulkarim Al-Gassas, is charged with arriving into the UK without leave or valid entry clearance. He was arrested by immigration enforcement officers after arriving on a small boat in Kent on March 6, having paid smugglers 1,500 euros (£1,300), a previous court hearing was told. Wadee was then placed in a hotel in the Manchester area. Canterbury Crown Court heard on Thursday that Wadee, who left Palestine in 2022 before making asylum claims in Greece, Germany and Belgium, had no familial or financial ties to the UK and had stayed between Calais and Dunkirk in France for about seven days before making the crossing. Prosecutor Harriet Palfreman said: 'The chronology of the countries that he has been through suggests he has an understanding of the immigration system.' Views shared by the defendant online showed he 'presents a clear threat to the Jewish community', Ms Palfreman told the court. His arrival in the UK made national headlines after it was reported that Wadee, a Palestinian from the city of Khan Yunis in Gaza, had posted on social media support for terror group Hamas, and hate-speech calling for the death of Jews. It was also reported he posted a video on his Facebook page last September in which he is filmed calling for Allah to 'punish (Jews) completely'. Audrey Mogan, defending, said Wadee had now claimed asylum in the UK and had been joined by 75 other people in the small inflatable boat for the Channel crossing. The defendant suffered 'quite serious injuries', including to his eye, from other inmates while being detained at HMP Dovegate in Staffordshire, Ms Mogan told the court. No plea was entered by Wadee, who appeared from custody and was joined in the dock by an Arabic interpreter, during the hearing. The defendant denied the charge during a hearing at Manchester Magistrates' Court last month. Judge Counsell refused an application for bail on the 'substantial grounds' that Wadee may abscond from the country or fail to surrender to court. The judge ordered the defendant to next appear at the same court on May 2. A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'Clearly, denying bail to Mosab Abdulkarim Al-Gassas was the right decision. But this goes wider than alleged immigration offences. 'These proceedings have come about after we revealed that he was part of a Hamas-endorsed unit responsible for violence on the Gaza-Israel border and used antisemitic rhetoric at foreign rallies and online. Now, we are calling for terrorism charges to be added to the charge sheet. 'Our solicitors have written to the CPS expressing our belief that Mr Al-Gassas has committed serious offences and that it is in the interests of national security to bring a prosecution on those as well. 'Failure to do so risks signalling that Britain is a safe haven for terrorists. We cannot be a soft touch.'
