‘He doesn’t want to die in prison’: family’s fears over coronavirus
“TRAPPED” prisoner Danny Weatherson fears for his life as he is locked behind bars during the coronavirus pandemic, his worried dad says.
His concerns come after statistics show the number of prisoners believed to have been infected with Covid-19 may be up to six times as many as the published figure, it has emerged.
Recently Public Health England (PHE) says it has found 1,783 “possible/probable” cases – on top of 304 confirmed infections across jails in England and Wales.
And now Danny’s dad Maurice Stevens says his son doesn’t want to die in jail.
Maurice said: “Because HMP Northumberland is a semi-open prison he calls me nearly every day. But every time he calls he always talks about how he’s worried about coronavirus.
“He suffers from blood clots on his lungs so he is in the vulnerable category and he is terrified that he gets this Covid-19. He doesn’t want to come out of there in a box, he doesn’t want to die in prison.”
The Government previously said measures at in place to protect inmates from the virus.
Danny, 31, is among the thousands caught up in the controversial Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences, which came into force for England and Wales in 2005 but were axed in 2012.
Left to “rot in jail”, Danny, from Scotswood, Newcastle
has been informed he will stand in front of another parole board on July 21 and has secured a human rights solicitor to fight his cause.
His desperate dad Maurice is raising funds to employ specialist solicitor Kushal Sood to give his son the best chance of freedom and end his nightmare.
He set up a GoFundMe page to initially raise £750 cash needed to pay for the lawyer but a new target of £2,000 has been set and already £1,300 has been raised.
At the start of the coronavirus outbreak the Government originally said up to 4,000 offenders could be released, to create space in jails to help social distancing. And Danny hoped he would be one of them. “Danny really hoped he would be released because he suffers from blood clots on his lungs and he’s up for a parole hearing in July. But he didn’t tick all the boxes and he wasn’t released,” said Maurice, of Crawcrook, Gateshead.
“At one point they said Danny was showing coronavirus symptoms – he had difficulty breathing, had a continuous cough and was coughing up phlegm.
“They isolated him in his cell for seven days and he didn’t even get a shower. He had a wash in his room. But Danny says he wasn’t tested and he says it was just the symptoms of his blood clots on his lungs.” Originally, a judge recommended Danny, who is bipolar, serve just over 15 months for two attempted robberies before he could apply for parole.
But he is still behind bars and is now locked up in HMP Northumberland in Acklington. While being inside, Danny’s mental health has deteriorated and he has tried to take his own life and self harm.
“Danny was sentenced to a 15-month IPP sentence for attempted robbery of a coat and mobile telephone back in the summer of 2005, aged 17 years old. Almost 15 years later, my son is still locked up for the same crime because of the injustice of the IPP sentence,” added Maurice.
The Chronicle told how after being locked up for 11 years and nine months Danny was released – only to be jailed again.
He got out on July 3, 2017, and was told to spend three months in a hostel in Leeds before being allowed to return to home soil in Newcastle.
Frustrated about not being with his family, without benefits and miles away from home, his dad says it is understood Danny was knocked over but would not co-operate with police. Only weeks later, he was recalled to prison. Dad-of-12 Maurice,
47, said: “We hope the parole board sees that prison is not the place for Danny now.
“He has served his time and more and he needs to be given a chance on the outside.
“We really feel positive with our new solicitor Kushal behind us. Danny hopes he’ll be out in 2020.”
The Chronicle has followed Danny’s plight over the years and, after he was returned to jail in 2017, Maurice asked strangers to send cards of support to his son.
Our caring readers sent him dozens of cards which gave him the mental strength to get through.
We also told how Danny had spent time inside in high-security prisons including HMP Northumberland, HMP Moorlands in Doncaster, HMP Armley in Leeds, HMP Frankland in Durham and HMP Hull.
Last year, a parliamentary report established that there were approximately 2,400 prisoners serving IPP sentences. The authorities admit the IPP sentence was widely criticised and “used far more widely than intended”.
■ Anyone wanting to donate to Danny’s fund can by following this shortcut: tinyurl.com/y7t5mtu6
THIEVES have targeted the “world’s oldest railway” in Gateshead and put the restoration of a 116-year-old steam train at risk.
Police launched an investigation after copper pipework and brass fittings were stolen from Tanfield Railway’s Sunniside base on April 28. The fittings are likely to cost more than £20,000 to replace and have had an impact on the restoration of the Horden locomotive.
Tanfield Railway Trust chairman, Derek Smith, said: “We’re absolutely devastated by this callous and targeted theft. Our volunteers have put thousands of hours into the restoration of Horden.”
Anyone being offered copper piping and brass as scrap, or who witnessed anything, is asked to contact police via the ‘Report an incident’ page on the website quoting log 300 of April 28.