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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions >> Soar, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice [2015] EWHC 392 (Admin) (20 February 2015) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2015/392.html Cite as: [2015] EWHC 392 (Admin) |
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QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
Sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge
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THE QUEEN (on the application of DAVID SOAR) |
Claimant |
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- and - |
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SECRETARY OF STATE FOR JUSTICE |
Defendant |
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Simon Murray (instructed by Treasury Solicitor) for the Defendant
Hearing dates: 22 January 2015
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Crown Copyright ©
Philip Mott QC :
Was the adjudication unfair?
i) Did a member of staff give the accused prisoner a lawful order? An order is lawful if it is reasonable and the member of staff has authority to give it in the execution of his or her duties. It is not necessary for the member of staff to specifically state that they are giving an order, only that they give a clear indication, preferably verbally, to a specific prisoner to do or not do something.ii) Did the prisoner understand what he or she was being ordered to do, or not do? …
iii) Did the prisoner disobey the order? 'Disobey' can mean the prisoner refused to comply with the order, or did not comply with it within a reasonable time (even if eventually complying).
iv) If the prisoner puts forward the defence of not understanding the order or what it required him or her to do, or that the order was not lawful, or any other reason for not obeying, the adjudicator should consider whether this explanation was reasonable in the circumstances.
"This was not a reasonable order as complying with it would have entailed doing something which was detrimental to my health for these reasons:
1) I have a chronic bowel condition as a result of which I am prone to constipation. The most effective way I've found of managing this is to eat 6-8 slices of bread immediately after lunch. Not doing so will leave me, in the short term, with the discomfort of constipation and in the longer term with an increased chance of developing bowel cancer.
In the past I have discussed this with members of A Wing staff who told me I should speak to healthcare and that, if healthcare approve it, I would be permitted to take bread from the wing. One member of staff rang healthcare and was told I should make an appointment to see the GP. However healthcare have refused to give me an appointment, telling me to speak to wing staff, which I'd obviously already done, or ask for the matter to be raised at a consultative meeting and that this "… is not a healthcare matter".
In short, wing staff tell me to speak to healthcare who tell me to speak to wing staff.
2) Attending education means having to use a poorly ventilated toilet which doubles as a smoking room."
"Last Monday I attended healthcare and spoke to a nurse because I have a chronic bowel condition which means I am prone to constipation. For some years I have controlled this by eating a lot of brown bread, but just recently some members of staff (or to be more precise – one individual) has had a problem with this. A member of healthcare staff rang the wing, but I have been unable to find out who they spoke to and the situation has not changed. Please can someone put something in writing to the wing."
There is no record in the papers of any response to this application, nor any further action by staff or by the Claimant.
G: Mr Soar you have heard the rep[orting] off[icer's] evidence do you have any Q's or anything that you wish to say
Mr S: No
G: You admit to saying that you wouldn't go to work if you couldn't take your bread
Mr S: Yes
G: And when that Officer told you that you couldn't take your bread you then refused a direct order to go to work
Mr S: Yes that's right
G: I can see from you[r] written statement that you say this is for medical reasons, yet you haven't been diagnosed with any condition
Mr S: Healthcare don't want to get involved. I've put in several apps.
G: I am going to adjourn this hearing to check with HCC [Healthcare Centre]
1041 HRS Adjudication reconvened
G: Mr Soar I have spoken to HCC and they tell me that there is no medical reason why you need to take bread to work with you. They also say that eating bread will not ease your constipation which you refer to in your written statement. In addition to this, whilst at work you are issued with a sandwich, which again asks why you need to take bread off the wing with you. Based on the evidence and what you have told me I am satisfied that you were given a lawful order to go to work, you heard it and disobeyed lawful order. I therefore find the charge proved.
Mr Soar had nothing to say in mitigation and no comments relating to his conduct and adjudication report.
i) Paragraph 2.30: "Other witnesses [other than the reporting officer] may be called in support of the charge, if the adjudicator agrees their evidence is relevant, and may be questioned by the prisoner, adjudicator or reporting officer. Written evidence may be accepted in the absence of the witness as above if the prisoner has no questions."ii) Paragraph 2.43: "An adjudicator satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a charge has been proved will find the prisoner guilty or, if not satisfied, will dismiss the charge."
iii) Paragraph 2.44: "In order to be satisfied that the evidence presented at the hearing has established guilt beyond reasonable doubt the adjudicator will take account of the following criteria …". The subsequent paragraphs list the ingredients of specific offences. The ingredients relevant to this charge are set out earlier in this judgment, at paragraph [8].
"In order to determine whether the charge was proven, it was necessary to establish whether the order given was lawful. If Mr Soar had a medical condition which meant that he had to take food to work with him as he had claimed in his statement, the order would have been unlawful and I would have dismissed the charge."
"… Nurse Eccles … was able to access Mr Soar's medical records on the NHS System (System 1) and confirm that Mr Soar had no medical condition which required him to take food to work. On the contrary, he said that bread would make his constipation worse. On completion of the call I was satisfied that it was a lawful order, and that it was not necessary for Mr Soar to question the medical advice."
i) Mr Trotman says in his statement that "it was not necessary for Mr Soar to question the medical advice". The only advice that had been given was about the effect of bread on constipation. Apart from this, what the nurse said was factual as to the state of the records, not advice or opinion.ii) When the adjudication was resumed, Mr Trotman proceeded straight to his decision and expressed it in terms which appear to place reliance on the opinion of the nurse about the effect of eating bread. In other words, he appeared to be doubting the credibility of the Claimant in saying that he found eating bread to be effective.
iii) Mr Trotman says in his statement that Mr Soar did not raise any objection after the adjudication as he claims, but: "If Mr Soar did feel, as alleged, that it was unfair not to be able to question the member of staff from healthcare about the eating of bread, he could have raised this at the end of the hearing. It is likely that I would have permitted the Claimant to put questions to the member of staff from healthcare". PSI 2.30 advises that the calling and questioning of another witness should only occur "if the adjudicator agrees that the evidence is relevant". Mr Trotman says that calling the nurse to the adjudications room for questioning would have been disruptive because the Healthcare Centre was half a mile away and the nurses had to run several clinics. His willingness to allow questioning if asked therefore points strongly to his belief that this was evidence, and that it was relevant.
Review decision
"Heard evidence over the telephone from the nurse whilst Mr Soar was not present. Mr Soar was not able to question the evidence from the nurse and was not afforded the opportunity to comment on her evidence. Mr Soar attempted to comment on the evidence, but was interrupted by the Governor and ultimately could not address this evidence."
"I took into account that the adjudicator was advised by the Healthcare Staff, that the Claimant did not have any condition which would require him to take an extra portion of bread with him and that he was already allowed to take sandwich [sic]. I also noted that Mr Soar did not have any permission from the Healthcare or from his wing staff to take any extra portion of bread. I was satisfied that the adjudicating Governor investigated the charge thoroughly, considering the evidence before him and exploring the defence raised, and the Claimant's guilt was established beyond reasonable doubt."
"The nurse gave evidence to the adjudicator that there was no medical reason for your client to take extra bread to work with him. The evidence was discussed by the adjudicator and your client was able to dispute it and could have requested another medical witness but did not do so."
Conclusion on the substantive challenge
Alternative remedy
"Questions as to whether a claimant should have used another type of redress process should arise on the application for permission and not at or after the substantive hearing of the judicial review claim. Once the court has heard arguments on the grounds of review, there is little purpose in requiring the parties to resort to some other remedy; indeed, to do so may be contrary to the overriding objective of the CPR. But a failure to pursue other remedies may influence how the court exercises its discretion to award costs."