ABSTRACT
On 11 March 1980 Mr Michael Peter McCallum was convicted by the High Court of Justiciary at Glasgow of assault and robbery and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, to run from 26 November 1979. Whilst in custody he lost 509 days’ remission of sentence for a series of offences against prison discipline. He was released from prison on 18 April 1985. During the course of his sentence, Mr McCallum spent two periods in the Segregation Unit at Inverness Prison for assaults on and abuse of staff, the first from 22 November 1980 to 27 January 1981 and the second from 30 June to 15 October 1981. The second period exceeded the usual three months’ maximum in view of his particularly uncooperative attitude whilst he was there. During 1981 and 1982, the prison authorities imposed the following particular restrictions on the applicant’s correspondence; Two letters from the applicant, one to his solicitor and one to a Member of Parliament and each dated 24 June 1981, were stopped as were a letter of 5 October 1981 from the applicant to the editor of the Daily Record, a letter dated 18 December 1981 from the applicant to the Procurator Fiscal, a letter dated 19 January 1982 from the applicant to Miss Hampson of Dundee University, letters dated 20 and 23 February 1982 from the applicant to his representative were delayed, copies of letters written by his representative to the Prison Service Headquarters on 4 June 1982 and to the Secretary of State on 22 June 1982 were withheld from the applicant. On 22 December 1982 the Visiting Committee of Barlinnie Prison imposed on the applicant a disciplinary award which included an absolute prohibition for 28 days on all correspondence. The applicant raised various complaints concerning the conditions and circumstances of his imprisonment. Comm found unanimously V 8 in respect of the stopping of the two letters of 24 June 1981 and of the letters of 5 October 1981, 18 December 1981 and 19 January 1982, the withholding of the copies of the letters dated 4 and 22 June 1982 and the 28-day restriction on correspondence imposed by the disciplinary award, unanimously, NV 8 in respect of the delaying of the letters of 20 and 23 February 1982, not necessary to examine 10, unanimously V 13 in relation to the applicant’s complaints under 8 concerning the stopping of the letters of 24 June 1981 and 18 December 1981 and the restriction under the disciplinary award, unanimously NV 13 in relation to the applicant’s complaints under 8 concerning the stopping of the letters of 5 October 1981 and 19 January 1982, the delaying of the letters of 20 and 23 February 1982 and the withholding of the copies of the letters dated 4 and 22 June 1982, by majority (9-6) V 13+3.
