News / Gaie Delap
78-year-old released with same tag that was called ‘really small’ for her wrists
An elderly protester who was imprisoned after the supposed failure to find a tag of the size of her wrists was released on Friday with the same tag now deemed fit to provide “secure electronic monitoring”.
Gaie Delap, now 78, was 77 when she was sentenced to 20 months in prison for her role in the Just Stop Oil protest that took place on the M25 in November 2022.
Following her sentencing in August 2024, she was released on a Home Detention Curfew (HDC) licence in November 2024. Under the terms of an HDC, a person is monitored by an electronic tag that is most commonly fitted on an individual’s ankle.
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However, Delap who suffers from a deep vein thrombosis was required to fit the tag on her wrist.
Gaie Delap’s family have said that there was no investigation into the terms of her recall – photo: Just Stop Oil
When the Electronic Monitoring Service (EMS) team visited Delap’s residence on November 27, she was told that her wrists were “really small” to fit the tag and the smallest tag measuring 15cm, could not be physically placed on her wrist as it was too loose to be approved. Delap’s family has emphasised that this was not the case, and the 78-year-old did not accept the reasoning as in her opinion she couldn’t remove the tag.
She was recalled to prison shortly before Christmas on December 20, where 20 extra days were added to her sentence representing the time she had spent “unlawfully at large”.
This was followed by a series of notices and open letters, including a question being raised in the parliament and a review of jail sentences handed out to several Just Stop Oil protesters.
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On Friday, after spending a little more than two months in prison, Delap’s legal team received a letter announcing her release on terms of HDC.
Explaining the events after Friday, Mick Delap, Gaie’s brother, said: “Gaie Delap’s family and friends can confirm that on Friday 31 January, Gaie was released from Eastwood Park prison under Home Detention Curfew.
“This followed a visit on 30 January from a senior operative of Serco’s Electronic Monitoring Service who established that a wrist strap of 15 cm would provide secure electronic monitoring. Fitted with a tag in the prison she returned to her home in Bristol to resume serving her Home Detention Curfew.
“It is worth pointing out that nearly 10 weeks after Serco/EMS claimed that the 15cm wrist strap was not secure enough to allow her to remain properly monitored at home, she has in fact been fitted with the same size. The failings of Serco have resulted in an additional 42 days spent in prison and an extended 20 days for being so called ‘unlawfully at large’.”
Mick Delap has estimated the cost of her recall to prison to be approximately £8,000 to the taxpayer.
All photos: Jamie Lowe
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