07 Maurice's Blog

The crown court in Cardiff has not refused Maurice's right to apply for bail - the transcript of the most recent hearing makes it plain that this was listed, amongst other things, for the hearing of a bail application.  I assume this was done on the basis that it had been stated at a previous hearing that Maurice wanted to make such an application, and the court WAS listening. in the event, though, no notice was served and no application was made. The transcript suggests that Judge Vosper was prepared to hear an application for bail even though no formal notice had been served, but  Maurice requested only to be returned to prison, not for bail. Essentially, then, Maurice made a token resistance to the clinic's application for an extension of the assessment period (and such an objection had no realistic chance of success because Maurice did not address any of the reasons given in the Clinic's report in support of their application: he did no read the report ) but did not make  a bail application, despite having the opportunity to do so.,

All this indicates a real need for Maurice to be legally represented at these hearings. A layman - even an intelligent layman - is necessarily at a huge disadvantage when he does not understand the legal processes and procedures operating. If, as in Maurice's case, prior to the hearing a defendant is subject to a psychiatric assessment with no access to case papers and legal textbooks, and is not informed beforehand of the precise nature of the hearing then the result is going to be pretty much as the transcript indicates - the defendant is confused, not really aware of precisely what is going on around him and unable to get his points accross effectively.

So, come on Maurice, get yourself some decent legal representation and put yourself in a position where you can mount an effecitve defence. Representing yourself at these hearings is really doing you no favours at all.

VMJMURPHY is right. Best Listen to him Maurice. Get a lawyer for the bail heaings.

Texas notes maybe good news, because if Caswell send for Texas notes, it may well mean that they do not have any evidence to pin a diagnosis on you from watching you, so they are desperately looking for more information.

There was one point concerning the latest court transcript that was missing from the final transcript found here kirkflyingvet.com/.../download.aspx

Maurice has asked us to state on his behalf that right at the end of the hearing, after he was cut off by Judge Vosper, he did actually ask aloud if he could make a bail application, receiving no reply, as the judge left the room. This request was not recorded on the transcript.

VMYMURPHY is right. Get a lawyer for this part of the case.

By that transcript, the Caswell are in limbo, so that a lawyer could have seized that opportunity, at that hearing to both get release from caswell and get bail.

Maurice did not give the Judge options or alternatives. And it can be argued the Judge ignored requests for bail hearings, as there was no clear plan, and if Maurice got a lawyer or like that representative they would arrange a bail hearing.

My understanding is you can list to speak before a Judge at any time, by contacting the Court staff/Court lawyer if you show you have something worth saying - such as a sound alternative plan, where you stay, maybe an alternative doctor etc, and why should get bail etc.  Stay in bristol/gloucester and caswell would need to pass the assessment to different doctors over there.

You're right, Fredbloggs, The Crown Court will list matters at pretty short notice following a formal request. Such an application would have to address in detail the reasons given by the original judge who refused bial (the risk of failing to attend, absconding, interfering with witnesses and comitting further offences on bail) by, for example, appropriate bail conditions, The judge/court has not refused Maurice's requests for a bail hearing - the most recent hearing was listed for just such a hearing, but no such application was made by Maurice - asking the judge for bail after he has given his judgment is not a bail application. This would not appear on the transcript because after the judge has given his judgment the heariing is concluded and nothing further is recorded. An important poiint for Maurice to remember is that a defendant is not allowed to make multiple bail applications in the Crown Court so a judge who recognises that Maurice's request for bail is bound to fail because it is not properly formulated is assisting Maurice by not treating his request as a formal bail application. If all Maurices's requests for bail were regarded as bail applications then it is likely that he would no longer be entitled to make any further applications! Without detailed knowlege of the court procedures it is very easy to make a mistake of this sort.

22nd September 2009 – 3 Month Anniversary

Maurice Kirk’s body and brain have now been inside government premises 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since the 22nd of June 2009.

When he left Cardiff prison and arrived at the Caswell Clinic he was still on a hunger strike. He realised that there was no point continuing the hunger strike when he had no access to the courts for at least 28 days. He broke his fast by eating food brought in by family and friends. This choice was regarded as paranoid despite the fact that none of the staff eat the food provided by the institution.

With regard to his physical health he has observed many changes during his period of incarceration. He states that during this time period he has experienced deterioration in eyesight which manifests as loss of focal clarity, particularly in the morning. He also notes that his hearing has deteriorated markedly. He observes that his long-term memory appears normal most of the time but that his short-term memory has weakened. His senses of smell and taste now vary in intensity. On occasion his heartbeat is slowed and he feels cold. He has experienced numbness in both arms below the elbows which disappears when he changes location. He also moves when either one of his feet becomes cold. He has experienced no dreams since he has entered the clinic and like one being roused from a state of deep unconsciousness it takes him over an hour to feel fully alert each morning. Concurrently his head feels stuffy as if his sinuses were blocked. He has also reports that whenever he settles down somewhere to eat, read and write or sleep he experiences a sharp pain in the right ear which lasts for about 30 seconds.

He hopes that these physical symptoms are temporary and that if he is ever again permitted to reside on private property his body and brain will make a full recovery.

The psychiatrists and psychologists at the Caswell Clinic conduct research on the inmate population in conjunction with the universities of Cardiff and Swansea. Maurice Kirk has had MRI and CT scans of the brain but has neither been permitted to view them nor to receive copies of them. He has not spent time with a doctor, as would be normal under NHS circumstances, to sit down and go over them.

It seemed initially that the institution’s goal was to diagnose a dangerous personality disorder. Each psychiatrist has a speciality, and it now seems that the diagnosis is leading towards a personality disorder caused by brain damage. Coincidentally Maurice experienced a headache which lasted for the three days before, during and after his scheduled CT scan.

The Cardiff Court sentenced Maurice to incarceration in the Caswell Clinic. The documents did not mention compulsory participation in research projects.

Maurice’s experience during these three long months has been one of delays and petty rules. He has established that the never ending and ever changing sets of rules at the Caswell Clinic are actually Home Office based. He has asked for all the rules to be available to all inmates but the request has been denied. Instead rules emerge from the ether synchronised to requests from inmates.

Control of the individual is paramount and is ensured by being under observation 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

It has been a year of negative press for the South Wales Police. Stories have been reported about some of the miscarriages of justice which have occurred over the years. However, the South Wales Police, in their inimitable way, have sidestepped complaints to the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) to which they are bound to respond and have rejected calls from Cardiff Council for a Public Inquiry into the force’s historic miscarriages of justice.

Chief Constable Barbara Wilding said that the five miscarriages of justice, which included the Cardiff Newsagent Three and the three men originally convicted of killing Lynette White, had all been fully re-investigated.

She said: “What we are referring to here happened a long, long time ago.”

“We have to put this in context, these cases represent a minuscule percentage of the number of cases that were dealt with by South Wales Police over that period of time.”

She said that the force had completely changed since that time and there was no suggestion that the same miscarriages of justice were continuing.

She said: “This is not the same force that it was in the 1980s.”

However that is patently not the case as two events reported by Wales Online on 29th March 2009 verify.

“South Wales Police has had a difficult week, having to issue two apologies in the space of 48 hours - the first to a 63-year-old musician who was mistakenly arrested and strip-searched by armed police officers and the second to a grieving widow to whom officers returned the rope her husband had used to kill himself.”

Maurice Kirk would also beg to disagree especially as his arrest and confinement coincided with his failed attempts to deliver documents to Dolmans solicitors. The solicitors refused to accept the documents which were actions against the South Wales Police.

According to the legal directory Chambers and Partners “Dolmans has a high success rate for the defence of claims for damages and contested trials, and takes on a steady flow of instructions from its main client base of four police forces: South Wales Police, Dyfed Powys Police, West Mercia Constabulary and Gwent Constabulary.”

“It has successfully acted for the defendant in a claim for damages arising out of the claimant’s arrest and detention, a case that established an important precedent in both civil and criminal law in relation to the Mental Health Act.”

The civilian taxpayer initially pays for the police forces and their CHIS (Covert Human Information Sources) to operate, then they pay for lengthy court cases and their associated costs, additional costs for years of accommodation for inmates may follow. The next payment is for solicitors, like Dolmans, to defend the police for their initial actions plus further court costs and finally there may be compensation payments calculated in hundreds of thousands of pounds for those declared innocent.

The South Wales Police cannot afford any additional bad press in 2009. Maurice Kirk’s court case has now been moved to 2010. Chief Constable Barbara Wilding will be retiring at the end of 2009.

Maurice Kirk’s court cases and even his Mental Health assessment have been characterised by a series of delays. By the end of 2009 the delays in “processing” Maurice will have served their purpose.