George Foulkes MP raised questions in the House of Commons in
November1984 concerning my complaints supported by his letter as
follows:
HOUSE of COMMONS
LONDON SW1A 0AA
9th November 1984
Rt Hon Leon Brittan QC MP
Home Secretary
50 Queen Anne's Gate
London
SW1H 9AT.
Dear Leon,
I am writing to you in connection with Mr Maurice Kirk, currently
serving a prison sentence at the States prison, Guernsey. I appeal to
you on humanitarian grounds and in the interests of justice to use your
powers under section 26 (2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1961, to
transfer Mr Kirk to a mainland prison for the remainder of his sentence.
The prison governor has freely admitted that the building and staff
are incapable of providing Mr Kirk with minimum standards expected by a
court. Mr Kirk is kept in solitary confinement. All his mail is
censored, thus denying him confidential communication with his
solicitors in England. In addition numerous letters to his solicitors
and MP's have been confiscated due to what the prison has described as
"of indeterminate length".
As a result of what Mr Kirk sees as prejudice, his health is
deteriorating and you will know that he has spent much of the past few
months on hunger strike. In addition he claims that medical attention
has been refused him from 3 separate practices on the island. These
factors have contributed to a great strain on Mr Kirk's wife.
According to people who have met the Kirks, both are close to breakdown and see transfer to a mainland jail as the only hope.
You are aware of my criticisms of the islands and of their
constitutional relationship with the U.K. Please appreciate that my
appeal to you for an urgent transfer for Mr Kirk has no direct link with
these criticisms. It is on humanitarian grounds and in order to ensure
Mr Kirk a fair hearing.
Yours sincerely
George Foulkes Esq.MP
-----------------------------
On 8 November 1984 the Governor of the Prison supplied me with
details of 35 letters they were prepared to admit had been stopped. By
this time I realised in the region of 60 letters had been stopped going
out.
COPY OF HAND-WRITTEN LETTER FROM THE GOVERNOR
List of stopped letters: (3rd edition) - 8.11.84
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Date: 3/9/84
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Letter No
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To
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240
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Press Council
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241
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Evening Post
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247
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Deputy Lihou
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255
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Deputy Le Cheminant
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235
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G Foulkes MP
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270
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League of Gentlemen
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253
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NCCL
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272
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Secretary, Mortimer House
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256
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Legal Action Group
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258
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Mr Meeks MP
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271
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Mrs Kirk
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249
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Prison Reform Trust
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236
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Mike Dunn Esq
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269
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Lord Longford
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238
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Sir B Slade
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263
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Attorney General-Jersey
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250
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Shirley Williams MP
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257
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International Human Rights
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265
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Secretary of State - Home Office
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235
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Janet Fookes MP
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333
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A Dubs MP
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239
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Mr and Mrs Owen
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242
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Mr and Mrs Le Prevost
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237
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Andrew ?, Taunton
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244
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Tim et al. South Side, St Sampsons, G
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243
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Les? Forest, G
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248
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Howard League
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246
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Deputy A Ingrouille
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All of these letters contained enclosures of Photostat cartoons and juxtaposed cuttings/letters of 12 pages (quarto).
5/9/84
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298
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Janet Fookes MP
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293
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Keyprice, Vale, G
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291
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M Dunn - Jersey
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299
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Lord Elton
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292
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G Foulkes MP
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290
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Alf Dubs MP
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297
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Alf Dubs MP
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Letters suppressed under Prison Administration Ordinance 1959 Sections 67/4 and 108/3.
Total number of letters despatched to date approximately 800....over 2000 before release.
Signed Mr Crowson
Governor - States Prison
21st August, 1984
PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE
Dear Janet [Fookes MP]
I am now able to reply to your letter of 11th July to David
Waddington with which you enclosed this one from Mr Maurice J Kirk in
connection with his recent legal proceedings in Guernsey. I should say
at the outset that since you wrote, Mr Kirk has been convicted on a
charge of contempt and sentenced to a term of eight months
imprisonment. I understand that he has lodged an appeal against
conviction and sentence.
As you are aware, Guernsey is not part of the United Kingdom but a
dependent territory of the British Crown, which, in general, is
responsible for its own domestic affairs. The administration of justice
in Guernsey is, by constitutional convention, wholly within the
competence of the Insular authorities and it would therefore be
inappropriate for the home secretary to seek to intervene in individual
cases.
I am however assured by the Guernsey authorities that in accordance
with established procedure in Guernsey, Mr Kirk was given the opportunity
to select an advocate for his defence, but I understand that he took
the somewhat unusual course of selecting one from the 27 offered by
picking a name from a hat.
Mr Kirk subsequently indicated that he did not wish the advocate to
represent him and made no attempt to engage the services of another.
With regard to Mr Kirk's claims that he was denied access to law
books and facilities for the preparation of his defence, I understand
that the Guernsey prison authorities responded to all his requests for
books, but that not all of these requests were available. They do not
accept that he was denied any reasonable facilities for which provision
is made in the prison (Administration) Ordinance 1959.
(THE LORD ELTON)
In October,1984 having apparently exhausted all local remedies I went
on hunger strike for the second time for reasons outlined in the
following letters:
Copy of letter from Maurice J Kirk from Ozanne Ward, Princess Elizabeth Hospital, Guernsey
dated 15th Nov.84
To the President
Prison Board
States of Guernsey
Dear Madam,
I am on hunger strike because
1) I have applied to a higher court in the U.K. concerning my
conviction and vindictive sentence and your insular authority REFUSE to
send me to appear in person because you say it is TOO EXPENSIVE to
travel there. (See newspaper report)
2) False information was given to the jurats before sentencing by
Day, the solicitor-general, concerning time on remand thereby affecting
my release date. This could be notified without further delay.
3) A charge of OVER 17 MONTHS AGO against me will not be brought to
court because the evidence will expose the conspiracy of the authorities
and others to sell my building and contents in 1983.
4) The various authorities will not answer letters and supply transcripts and tapes of hearings - ALL PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.
ANY OTHER PRISONER WOULD BE ON PAROLE AFTER SUCH AN INJURY CAUSING HOSPITALISATION.
Yours faithfully
Signed Maurice J Kirk
Mr R P Bulling
Privy Council Office
Whitehall
LONDON SW1
Your reference CIM/84 30/7/8
24th April, 1985
Dear Mr Bulling
I attach for your information a copy of an article from the Guernsey
Evening Press and Star of 17th April, 1985 about Mr Maurice Kirk, a well
known correspondent from Guernsey, concerning his wish to appeal to the
privy council about the Jersey court of appeal's decision which is
outlined in the article.
As you will see, the possible case is some way off, but I thought that you might wish to be aware of it.
Yours sincerely
D R N BROWN
E2 Division
About a year later I came into possession of several internal memos, three of which I now include for clarity.
This one was attached to the 5 September 1984 letter from the Privy Council to me.
The Privy Council registrar continues to refuse to conform or deny their authenticity.
Mr Bulling - (117)
Thank you for your note.
I have written to our friend Kirk and a copy of my letter is attached
for your retention, plus a copy of his letter, the original of which I
have retained for our file.
Having now stuck my neck out, I doubt whether you will be troubled with further correspondence from this particular prison!
Your file no. 303.256 is also returned herewith.
D Rushton
CHIEF CLERK
TOUGH Greffes
MAJESTY'S GREFFIER Royal Courts
REGISTRAR - GENERAL Guernsey
OF
BIRTHS
MARRIAGES AND DEATHS
TELEPHONE GUERNSEY 25277
REF: 3rd March, 1987
OUR REPLY
QUOTE REF: 58/3/11
M.J.Kirk, Esq.
Anchor Veterinary Clinic
The Bridge
St.Sampson's
Guernsey.
Dear Sir,
I acknowledge receipt of your letter of 2nd March, 1987 which I have
referred to the deputy bailiff. I am directed to reply as follows:-
1. The court is not prepared to entertain an application by you to
hear the tape recording of proceedings on 28th January, 1985. You have
already been supplied by me with a duly certified transcript.
2. The court has no power "to order the prison authorities to
release proof of your correspondence". You should address any such
request to the prison governor.
Your cheque for £10 is returned herewith.
Yours faithfully