Had Gaie been a man, she would be spending Christmas at home

The family and friends of Gaie Delap, the 77 year old grandmother who has been recalled to prison as her wrists are too small to fit an electronic monitoring tag, have issued a last minute appeal to the  Ministry of Justice and SERCO to “find a strap for Christmas”.

Gaie Delap took action in 2022 to demand the government end all new licenses and consents for oil and gas projects, something which is now government policy. [1] [2]

The family and friends of Gaie Delap issued a statement which reveals how the Ministry of Justice, Lord Timpson, Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation and Anthony Kirby, Serco’s CEO for UK & Europe have each declined to take ultimate responsibility for their failure to find a suitable alternative for Gaie.[3]

The statement also reveals that strap sizes that would have fitted Gaie are commonly available and have been in use since before 2011. The family feels that had Gale been a man she would be spending Christmas at home.

The statement says:

“All authorities are shifting responsibility from one to another. We are going around in circles. And all the time we know there are strap sizes that would fit Gaie. We know too there are alternatives to a tag such as the fingerprint scanners widely used by the UK Home Office for electronic monitoring for the past two years. Why doesn’t the Ministry of Justice know this?” 

Gaie spent three months in prison from August 2024 before being released on a home detention curfew on November 18th. EMS was unable to fit a tag to Gaie’s ankle due to a health condition, so attempted to fit a tag to her wrist, but failed. She was subsequently recalled to prison and on Friday 20 December, was arrested and taken to HMP Eastwood Park. She will now spend Christmas in prison and is understandably terrified after her experiences during her last period of incarceration. [4]

A crowdfunder has been launched for Gaie’s legal fees here: https://goodlawproject.org/crowdfunder/ill-fitting-tags/

ENDS

Press contact: 07762 987334

Press email: juststopoilpress@protonmail.com

High quality images & video here: https://juststopoil.org/press-media

Website: https://juststopoil.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JustStopOil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/just.stopoil/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JustStop_Oil

Youtube: https://juststopoil.org/youtube

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@juststopoil

Notes to Editors

[1] Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups working together to demand that the government immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK. Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects.

Just Stop Oil ‘Blue Lights’ policy: our policy is, and has always been, to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with siren sounding and ‘blue lights’ on.

[2] https://juststopoil.org/2024/07/10/paint-the-town-orange-just-stop-oil-wins-first-demand/

[3] 221224 CHRISTMAS STATEMENT FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF GAIE DELAP FINAL.pdf 

[4] https://juststopoil.org/2024/12/21/grandmother-recalled-to-prison-for-possessing-wrists-too-small-for-a-tag/