News / climate action
Family of 77-year-old activist say jail recall is evidence of ‘direct discrimination’
The family and friends of 77-year-old climate activist, Gaie Delap, have accused the government’s Electronic Monitoring Services of ‘direct discrimination’, as their inability to fit her with an electronic tag could mean she will be taken back to prison.
Gaie, a retired teacher from Montpelier, was arrested in November 2022 after scaling a gantry on the M25 in support of Just Stop Oil activism.
She was sentenced to 20 months in prison in August after pleading guilty to causing a public nuisance.
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On November 18, Gaie was released to serve the rest of her sentence on a home detention curfew.
Gaie Delap, pictured here outside the High Court of Justice in 2023, was sentenced to 20 months in prison in August 2024 – photo: Just Stop Oil
So Gaie can be monitored throughout her curfew, she is required to wear an electronic monitoring tag.
However, the Ministry of Justice’s Electronic Monitoring Services (EMS), managed by Serco, have been unable to fit her with a tag.
EMS were unable to attach a tag to Gaie’s ankle due to a health condition and so tried to attach a tag to her wrist without success.
As a result, there is now a warrant out for Gaie’s arrest because the EMS has informed the prison service that Gaie cannot be monitored.
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Gaie’s brother, Mick Delap, and Mike Campbell, a family friend, have released a statement saying that they had hoped the Ministry of Justice would have located a suitable tag by Friday December 13.
They say they have the support of an “electronic tagging expert” who has confirmed “without a shadow of doubt that there are straps/tags that would fit Gaie”.
Gaie’s wrists have a 14.5cm diameter.
Mick and Mike have added that they have “concerns about the direct discrimination that lies behind this case: that women’s needs are not really considered when it comes to fitting tags, that older people and those suffering conditions like deep vein thrombosis are uncatered for.”
The Ministry of Justice have said that home detention curfews are a discretionary release scheme – “offenders are subject to risk assessment and electronically monitored curfew on release”.
They have added that: “Where it is no longer possible to electronically monitor offenders in the community, through no fault of their own, they will be recalled until it is possible for them to monitored in the community.”
Main photo: Just Stop Oil
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