The Untouchables.
We seem to have a permanent section of criminal society that is marked âuntouchableâ, a niche corner where no one is responsible for their actions, where those suitably labelled are accorded automatic victim status regardless of their part in their current imbroglio. Who âlivesâ in the untouchable niche changes with passing fashions.
Within my lifetime, it started with women. Women could do anything a man could do â so went the mantra. That included criminal actions. Murder even. There were howls of protest when Ruth Ellis was hanged. Yes, she had committed murder, but she was a woman. That was different. This was refined into a creed whereby women were apparently driven by their hormones at times to commit murder; entirely understandable. The role of testosterone in driving men to murder was not so explored. Then again, women could be goaded by lengthy verbal or physical abuse to âdefend themselvesâ by killing their male partner. Again entirely understandable – the idea that men could be so goaded was poo-pood, they should have risen above such provocation.
We diverted from women as permanent victims to those of African descent as permanent victims. Their grandparents had been slaves, you could not but understand that sometimes they couldnât be expected to obey the law. The lawlessness came from being oppressed for generations. Soft shoe policing became the name of the game.
In turn, the Irish, Gypsies, homosexuals, children, and Muslims have all occupied the untouchable niche. Each clan being elbowed out of place by a vociferous and professional protest campaign on their behalf. Currently the most fashionable victims are the disabled. Perhaps it is the Paralympic effect.
I was sent an e-mail this week asking me to campaign on behalf of a severely disabled man who âwas being tortured by the British governmentâ. Surely not I thought? Tortured? Time to read further. There was no reason given in the e-mail as to why he might be being tortured, beyond the fact that he was âincarcerated in a medieval and insanitary jail for a crime he was physically incapable of having committedâ. He was now âfighting for his life in an intensive care unitâ and it was essential that I bring this âtruthâ to the British public because the main stream media had been âorderedâ not to publicise itâ¦Blimey!
Surprisingly, the left-wing press appear to have ignored this âorderâ not to publicise the case. They have been happily littering their pages with information about it. Odd. The Guardian, New Statesman, various left-wing blogs â I soon had a collection of articles to read. They were remarkably hazy about the details as to how this man ended up in a medieval insanitary jail, but full of emotive phrases concerning his current condition. Nobody wanted to talk about his life leading up to his incarceration â they would prefer that I concentrate on the utter inhumanity of his treatment by the British government.
There was a Facebook page, an e-petition, all the essentials of modern protest; I was on a mailing list along with the Independent, The Guardian, New Statesman and Chanel 4 news â strange bed fellows for a Raccoon! I had to âact quickly to save his lifeâ. We have all responded.
The Guardian came thundering out with âThe scandal of seriously ill prisoners denied basic healthcareâ a story âexemplifiedâ by the treatment of this young man â denied basic healthcare eh? That is a serious allegation. Especially since his Mother has gone on record as saying âhis family say he has received nothing more than basic careâ. Well? Has he or hasnât he received basic healthcare folks? Make your minds up.
The New Statesman âinvestigatedâ, not just reported, the âphysical and mental tortureâ of a disabled man in prison. Itâs that torture word again.
Now the young man in question undoubtedly suffers from a distressing condition. Freidrichâs Ataxia. Like all such conditions it is a spectrum â some will suffer from all the possible effects, some will escape relatively lightly at first only to succumb later. It generally means a shortened life span of 40 years. Nasty. Daniel Roque Hall, for that is his name, we are told requires 24-hour care, including two carers to transfer him from chair to chair with a mobile hoist; insulin injections; five tests of blood glucose a day; toileting; turning in bed to avoid pressure sores; someone present when drinking to stop him choking; an exercise regime to prevent the development of contractions; the drug Warfarin; help with dressing himself; and manipulation and exercise to maintain muscle activity. Importantly, despite the common belief that anyone in a wheelchair is mentally sub normal, it has no effect on intellectual abilities, but scarcely surprisingly, can result in extreme depression.
Now you may be wondering how someone who requires two carers in full-time attendance, lifting with a mobile hoist, and such constant medical intervention could possibly get themselves in a position where they end up in prison. Yes, I do know, Mr E-mail correspondent, that I am not supposed to be dwelling on this facet, that I should be whipping up my readers into a heightened sense of emotive outrage at the alleged lack of the prison service being able to provide an effective 24 hour intensive care regime, but you should know by now that the Raccoon likes to have her facts in place before campaigning, so I want to know the answer to this one.
It seems that last autumn, Danielâs Ataxia was sufficiently mild, and his family sufficiently unconcerned about him being away from an intensive care unit or liable to die at any moment, to take off travelling. Not just travelling, but, some would say, off the beaten track travelling, to a country where the medical facilities in a British prison would seem like heaven on earth. He took with him a female âcarerâ. He seems to have managed just fine. He got on and off planes without a hoist, didnât âdeteriorate rapidlyâ when spending time without an intensive care unit in close attendance, and judging by the photograph here, looks to have had a fine time high up in the Peruvian mountains. Personally, although a keen traveller in the past, it would not cross my mind to travel to Peru in my state of health, so I take my hat off to him for his adventurous spirit, courage and fortitude. Unfamiliar foods, most of the time having no idea what you are eating, lack of Doctors, rudimentary travel facilities, changing planes, a thoroughly upset inner time clock, itâs on par with going up Everest minus one leg. Well done Daniel. Iâve managed to find a picture of Daniel on holiday last autumn. On your left now. It was difficult to find because it is not the picture his supporters would like me to use.
So what happened? Weeeell, somehow, despite his 24 hour watchful carers, someone, somebody, managed to stuff 3 kilos of Cocaine in the seat of his wheelchair. Well I never! The perils of travelling to Peru. It must have been whilst he was in that hoist which is essential to move him eh? I donât know, those generous foreigners, turn your back for an instant and they stuff £370,000 grands worth of Coke in yer wheelchair and disappear without a traceâ¦.
After an arduous journey back to the UK via Paris, Daniel and UK Border Force came face to face, or shall we say sniffer dog to wheelchair. Contrary to popular wishes, they donât treat everyone in a wheelchair as being a sainted soul, especially when theyâve just flown in from Peru. They found the Cocaine. They take a dim view of people who bring into the country a drug which has been known to leave people in genuine need of an intensive care unitâ¦
Daniel, to his credit, despite a rear guard attempt by his counsel to claim that he had been âgroomed and manipulatedâ, did own up and admit that the drug was his responsibility. After six months at home, owing to a lenient judge who granted him bail, he was sentenced at the end of June to 3 and a half years in prison for smuggling a ClassâAâ drug.
Prison seems to have achieved something which the rigours of travelling in Peru could not. He was left âunattendedâ on a trolley in the hospital wing, and can you believe his luck, he âfell offâ the trolley owing to the âintensive and debilitating spasmsâ he had borne so bravely in his time in Peru. Well, it has had a devastating effect on his health, he has âdeteriorated rapidlyâ owing to this âtortureâ by the British Prison authorities, and in no time at all he was complaining of heart trouble, a swing in his insulin owing to being provided with food that âdid not suitâ his diabetic requirements (What! No roast guinea pig in Wormwood Scrubs?) and by the time he came to see his Mother, he was complaining that:
âhe was kept in a cell that was overwhelmingly hot, with no air conditioning.â
Whatever is prison coming to? No air conditioning! It was a sharp come down from travel in third world Peru! He had âabrasions on his feetâ from the prison slippers he had thoughtfully been provided with. He had been âplaced in his wheelchair in the wrong positionâ. Ha! The torture of British prisoners continues!
Mother had arrived armed with a letter from his GP which explained that owing to his insulin dependence, there is âa risk he will have hypoglycemia resulting in a comaâ and that his incarceration âwill result in his demiseâ. A full month after his arrival in prison and after the GPs letter, Daniel remembered that he has an enlarged heart and claimed to be in urgent need of a cardiologist. The prison transferred him to hospital for further tests. Daniel was outraged at finding himself, standard procedure, handcuffed to two prison officers whilst in hospital, where he remains today. Meanwhile, the experts in this disease, rather than the local General Practitioner, have issued a suitably deadpan statement listing the full effects of Freidrichâs Ataxia when it reaches its climax â a list I note that has been dutifully copied and pasted by virtually every journalist to cover this story as though it all applies currently to Daniel â noting in a non-hysterical manner, that âDanielâs balance, co-ordination and mobility is already significantly compromised by his FA, and it is vital to his future welfare that he is provided with necessary careâ.
The prison service have noted that âWe have a duty of care to those sentenced to custody by the courts. As part of that duty of care, we ensure that prisoners have access to the same level of NHS services as those in the community.â
Meanwhile, a mere six weeks after he entered the rigours of the hospital wing at Wormwood Scrubs, noisy supporters are gathering outside, the Facebook campaign gathers strength from the army of disability activists, on-line campaigners are begging you to âsave the life of a severely disabled man âfighting for his life in intensive care because of lies and neglect by the authoritiesâ, or Prison is killing disabled man Daniel Roque. His mother, Anne Hall, states,
âDaniel has been tortured and the prison has ignored repeated calls to send Daniel to hospital.â
Daniel is now in hospital being assessed in the intensive care unit of University Hospital â one of the top hospitals in London, but lawyers are fighting for him to be released from prison while his medical needs are assessed. He has two warders now. âI asked the nurse to put him out of their sight because when he woke up and saw them he was very upset,â says Anne.
September 13, 2012 at 08:24
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Do you caont âPrivate Eyeâ as part of the âleft-wing press, then?
I
think we should be told ⦠cont P. 94
September 12, 2012 at 18:26
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Aryan
September 12, 2012 at 18:25
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âRight wing pressâ!!! You call this PRESS! Wow!
Why canât this man just be treated as any other man foolish enough to try
and break the law. He admitted to his wrong-doing and is now serving his
punishment. Nobody asked you to sympathise with this condition before he
comitted the crime and nobody is asking you to sympathise now. Your myopic
outlooks have led you to waste far too much time of what can only be
distinctly exciting lives on this story because he happens to be in a
wheelchair.
See him for what he is: a man that made a mistake and who is now paying for
it. I realise he would not gain membership to your group of omniscient and
morally spotless nazis, but then iâm sure he would have a better time where he
is.
Shame on the small fry journalist who must lift from other stories to form
a view that allows her what she must consider a worthy following. You must be
very proud of your achivements; I assume you turned down the offers of a real
job in press on political grounds.
None of you have the faintest about his condition, his life or his pending
situation. But still, at least you can vent your arian tendencies without too
much exposure. Thatâs right, keep it underground, where it belongs.
September 13, 2012 at
06:16
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XX None of you have the faintest about his condition, his life or his
pending situation.XX
He is a drug runner, and, in the interests of âequal rightsâ the bastard
is getting exactly what he deserves, the same as any able bodied person.
Who can complain about that? And what else is there to know about âhis
condition, his life or his pending situation.â?
September 13, 2012 at 07:43
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For example some chump on here has tried to spuriously relate this
manâs cardiac condition to cocaine taking. What you donât know is that
over 25% of sufferers of Friedreichâs Ataxia also develop hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy as a complication of the disease. This in itself can be
life-threatening.
And with regards to his pending situation, youâre eloquent previous
post was quite an insight into how this country deals with criminals. I
can only hope you donât have children of your own.
September 12, 2012 at 03:50
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#Jackart says of cocaine: âTrue itâs not good for the heart if used
repeatedly but millions of britons use the drug every week,â I do not doubt
this for a minute, unlike #Engineer. It explains a great deal about the
decline of sense in the UK and may well have just the effect that Annaâs
original post proclaims. But there is another drug coursing through some
folksâ veins which is even more deadly and started the whole victim game off
in the first place. Oestrogen.
September 12, 2012 at 07:57
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Except itâs nor a drug.
September 11, 2012 at 08:12
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Looks like game, set & match to Anna.
I just keep thinking of the response of a senior official failing to deal
with problems from some families placed in new social housing nearby: â..you
must remember these people are victims tooâ¦â . Busily creating new
untouchables.
Empathy, fine; indulgence no.
This one must be a very fishy or the BBC would have run with it?
September 11, 2012 at 06:18
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âThe Evening Standardâ managed to sneak out its coverage despite the
âGovernment crack-downâ.
* A gallery of four photos with ES date-line âTuesday 11-Septemberâ â and
embedded to original report of case 22 June 2012
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/disabled-man-hid-370000-of-cocaine-in-his-wheelchair-7875682.html?action=gallery&ino=1
September 10, 2012 at 23:11
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Okay â ref my earlier comment at 15.26 today apropos of identity of alleged
victim. Name = Daniel Roque Hall. Have a look at Book of Daniel (Bible)
Chapter 2 verse 34. âWhile you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by
human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed
them.â Parallels, anyone? Rolling off gurneys etc? Donât get me wrong, I donât
believe for 1 nanosecond that this guy is the Anti-Christ but what Iâm
suggesting is that he does! Oh, and âhallâ is common abbreviation for
hallelujah. Iâm beginning to think Iâm mad for even suggesting this, butâ¦.
September 10, 2012 at 22:40
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It could be that when he was in Peru, there was this funny white powder
that the locals gave hime, that cured all his illsâ¦
However, when he got âhomeâ those evil pigs stole his supply, and he has
been struggling ever since.
September 10, 2012 at 21:01
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Add the police to the untouchable list. Have you googled PC makes hoax bomb
call? The press is very quiet on this story.
September 10, 2012 at 20:54
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Wait four years, give him back the cocaine and enter him in the next
paralympics 100 metres.
Penseivat
September
10, 2012 at 19:09
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Is it possible to blame this case on inadequate disabled access provision
at the Ecuadorean Embassy? A well-founded claim of torture would assure Mr
Roque Hall of political asylum. He was out on bail for six months yet didnât
have the same opportunities as an able-bodied bail-jumping alleged sex
offender. And after the Stafford Hospital scandal and the Winterbourne View
scandal, would Mr Roque Hall really be safer outside?
September
10, 2012 at 18:36
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A brilliant expose of left wing hypocrisy and self righteousness. If I pass
near your houise on my way down to visit daughter dear, I will call in and buy
you a drink.
Ian T.
September 10, 2012 at 18:27
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To my way of thinking if he â coughed â for it , he didnt think he had much
chance of getting an acquital. Maybe he should have sought aslyum in a south
american embassy?
I think your right Anna ( as usual ) â there are too many
classes of victim which can excuse thier bad or criminal behaviour on their
status
The Law and justice should be equally adminstered, except perhaps
Chris Huhne who should be hung!
Should be a laugh his trial
September 10, 2012 at 15:56
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Not all disabled people are saints. Not all able-bodied people are evil.
People are people and they do what they do to make their lives as easy for
themselves as possible. If he thought he could get away with smuggling cocaine
because he was in a wheelchair, heâs an idiot â even store security guards
keep a close eye on wheelchair users because things have been known to âslip
down the side under their blanketsâ and they leave the store without realising
they have not paid for such goods⦠Sometimes the wheelchair user is not
actually disabled â but who can tell? Then again, mothers have been known to
have the same âaccidentsâ with their babiesâ prams and pushchairs in the same
way. As I said, people are people and they do what they do, sometimes just to
get by, sometimes because they donât know any better, sometimes because
theyâre stupid and sometimes because they think they can get away with it.
Mr Hall didnât get away with it. Iâm not defending him in anyway, or what
he did, but if you were in his position, would you not be doing the same
thing? If youâre 29 and you think youâre going to be dead by 40, would you
want to spend three years in jail, deserved or not?
However, campaigners are probably not aware of half the facts that you have
highlighted. Maybe they will change their minds when they are. But youâre
right â the press has no excuse, if you are correct in everything you have
written. If you could find all this out â so can they.
September 10, 2012 at
16:03
September 10, 2012 at 17:52
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Anna says he was sentenced to 3 1/2 yrs. So thatâs nowhere near how long
he will be in prison. And if some 60 year old paedo or 70 year old murderer
is given the tariff for their crime, why should we be concerned about their
life expectancy? Apart from looters our courts seem to find any excuse to
keep the sentences short. I would have expected the Judge to take into
account his life expectancy in setting his term to 3 1/2 years.
September 10, 2012 at 18:07
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âwhy should we be concerned about their life expectancyâ⦠Iâm not.
Everyone dies, at some point. Iâm saying maybe HE is concerned about his
life expectancy.
September 10, 2012 at 15:26
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Erudite as always, Anna. Great stuff! However, Iâm wondering if we are all
missing something fundamentally sinister about this case. Roque Hall struck me
as an unusual name and my first suspicion was that it is a corruption of
Rockall meteorological shipping station! Google turns up a breathtaking number
of âsave Daniel Roque Hallâ results but the one and only record I could find
for anybody of that name is Daniel himself. Nobody shares the name at his
addresses. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but his mother has raised her
profile and whether or not there is a Mr Roque Hall pere, one would expect her
to have the same name as her son, unless, of course, she has remarried.
Facebook has a page earmarked for a company called Barangay Roque Hall but
they have not used it once since its inception. As you say, Anna, there is a
dearth of background information plus the inevitable question marks over a man
in such parlous condition being able or permitted by those who care for him to
undertake such an adventurous journey. You explained how reporters no longer
cover crown court hearings and that transcripts of the court case are not
available unless the case goes to appeal, which wonât happen because Mr Roque
Hall pleaded guilty, leading you to speculate whether the UK Border Agency
could provide more information. Unless he was a marked suspect, alas, valid
documentation will have allowed him to travel unhindered and e-border schemes
will not cover him unless he has a biometric passport. Call me a conspiracy
theorist if you like but I am leading up to this: does Daniel Roque Hall
really exist or is he the best con trick ever foisted on the unsuspecting and
liberally outraged brigade of bleeding hearts, many of whom see nothing wrong
in his touting 3k of Peruvian nose fodder through in his seating arrangements.
But why, you may ask? What for? What does he gain â whoever he may be? Apart
from money and publicity, the answer is I donât know; but I canât avoid the
coincidence of this story exploding at the same time as the country is
focusing on the Paralympics and more particularly on those vilified advocates
of cruelty to cancer patients, ATOS. Time will tell, I suppose!
September 10, 2012 at 14:23
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My computer appears to be having a fit of dyslexiaâ¦.perhaps It could get
good âtermsâ for board and lodging in British prison?
HONEST! It will need a wheel chair next week. And I hope those bastards
make sure it is sitting comfortably!
September 10, 2012 at 14:21
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XX Prison is killing disabled man Daniel Roque. XX
Good. It save the taxy payer the price of the noose, and the evening meal
for both hangman and assistant.
Sertves the drug running bastard right.
Hope he rots.
September 10, 2012 at 14:18
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A very good article Anna, however Private Eye have already featured this
and it is indeed in the current issue and it would appear that if you are to
believe PE that all is not quite as it seems he does suffer from a
degenerating desease Friedreichs ataxa and it is likely to kill him by 40
Daniel is 29, the picture you show and the one in PE are two phases in his
degeneration, his trial judge described him as ânaive and vulnerableâ, the
truth of this who knows, I donât but the other version in PE is worth a read
sorry no link.
September
10, 2012 at 13:28
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ââ¦a drug which has been known to leave people in genuine need of an
intensive care unitâ¦â Um⦠really? Cocaine has no lethal dose. True itâs not
good for the heart if used repeatedly but millions of britons use the drug
every week, with few ill effects, especially when compared to Alcohol. When
cocaine users DO come to the attention of the medical profession, they often
are victims not of Cocaine, but with whatever the drug is cut with. They are
in effect, like this would be smuggler, just casualties in the âwar on drugsâ.
Otherwise, good article.
September 10, 2012 at 14:17
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Millions of Britons use cocaine every week? I doubt that very muchâ¦
ââ¦..are victims not of Cocaine, but with whatever the drug was cut with.â
So, donât take cocaine, and the substance used to cut it wonât harm you.
Criminals looking for a big profit donât have much incentive to practice
rigorous quality control.
There are good reasons why class A drugs are classed as sufficiently
dangerous to be banned, and everybody knows full well that theyâre banned.
If you import them, sell them, possess them or use them, you know full well
what the consequences are if you get caught. No good whinging after the
event.
September 10, 2012 at 15:16
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ââ¦â¦â¦â¦ââ¦a drug which has been known to leave people in genuine need of an
intensive care unitâ¦â Um⦠really? â¦.â
Yes really. Those mugged & burgled by Junkies thieving to pay for
their next fix.
September 10, 2012 at 12:46
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Brilliant article. Why doesnât the Department of Justice not arrange with
with the Peruvian authorities for this gentleman to serve his sentence
there.
The climate is obviously more to his liking. Perhaps he could
acquire a âcarerâ there.
September 10, 2012 at 12:42
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May he rot and perish, worthless scum.
September 10, 2012 at 12:26
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Obviously heâs a prisoner of conscience, incarcerated for his beliefs.
He believed he wouldnât be caught.
September 10, 2012 at 12:20
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Excellent article. Well done.
September 10, 2012 at 11:55
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sheeshâ¦..I can hear the grinding of Guardianistaâs teeth from here (Darwin,
NT â and thatâs a bloody long way , let me tell you!)
September 10, 2012 at 11:43
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Bravo Anna, a tour de force!
{ 59 comments }