Bartholomew Dalton in Law Society Gazette on High Court criticism of prison service
25 Mar 2024
Bartholomew Dalton has been quoted in the Law Society Gazette in respect of the High Court’s recent criticism of the way HMP Wandsworth dealt with his client.
In a judgment released last week, Mr Justice Pepperall accused the prison service of “institutional indifference” after Bartholomew’s client was unlawfully detained in custody for 23 hours.
The client was only released after Bartholomew, instructing Doughty Street Chambers’ Kate O’Raghallaigh, brought a writ for habeas corpus against the prison and its governor.
Bartholomew told the Gazette: ‘This is not the first time HMP Wandsworth has been criticised in relation to detaining individuals unlawfully.
‘In this case, even once I made it clear that we would seek an urgent out of hours writ of habeas corpus, the prison staff continued to think it appropriate to ignore the issue and assume that they could deal with it at their own convenience.‘
He went on: ‘It is extraordinary that the judge felt it necessary to attach a penal notice to an order to the governor of a prison, who should perhaps feel lucky she did not face contempt proceedings.’
Read the full article here.
