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Crowdfunder
Stop unlawful detention for ill-fitting tags
Gaie Delap waits at home with her bags packed, terrified of the next knock at the door as she waits for the police to arrive and take her to prison.
This 77-year-old woman is living under the threat of arrest not because she has broken the terms of her licence for home detention. In fact she’s been carefully abiding by all conditions of her sentence, since she was convicted for peaceful action to protest the climate crisis.
The only reason Gaie could be dragged away from her family is because there isn’t an electronic tag to fit her. Gaie’s deep vein thrombosis means she can’t wear an ankle tag and the government won’t provide one small enough for her wrists.
And Gaie isn’t the only one. We’re aware of others who have been recalled to jail just because tags are not being provided for a wide-enough range of people. Through no fault of their own, these offenders are being forced to spend their sentences in our overcrowded prison system just because of the failings of the government.
We’re supporting Gaie to fight this cruel decision. She can’t access legal aid, so we need to come together and fund her legal team to fight this, bringing urgent light to an issue that the Ministry of Justice has kept in the dark.
Anything you can give will help us keep Gaie out of prison, and stop the government getting away with locking people up just because it can’t provide the right equipment.
Details
The money raised will be used to support Gaie Delap’s legal team – Hodge Allen & Jones – in their work to quash Gaie’s recall warrant and prepare a judicial review against the Ministry of Justice.
10% of the funds raised will be a contribution to the general running costs of Good Law Project. It is our policy only to raise sums that we reasonably anticipate could be spent on the work we are crowdfunding for. But if there is a surplus it will go to develop and support further work we do to fight for a fairer, greener future for all.
Crowdfunder updates
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31/01/2025
Gaie Delap released on curfew
We are very pleased to share the news that Gaie Delap has been released from prison today on home detention curfew. Her release follows legal pressure against the Ministry of Justice by Gaie’s solicitors, supported by Good Law Project. And it means there will be no further legal challenge against the MoJ about her unlawful recall to prison on 20 December 2024.
A member of our team has spoken with Gaie, who is safely back in her own home. She is overwhelmed with the support she has received and has shared her thanks to Good Law Project supporters.
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29/01/2025
Gaie's application for bail denied
At Gaies sentencing appeal hearing she was informed that the application for her bail, submitted by her legal team, has been denied. She was told the decision had been made days ago, but nobody had informed Gaie, her family or her legal team.
We await a response to the preliminary letter sent to the Ministry of Justice, which has a deadline of 4pm on Friday 31 January, but are ready to support Gaie’s team to launch legal proceedings next week.
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28/01/2025
Preliminary action taken to challenge Ministry of Justice
Gaie’s legal team – Hodge Jones & Allen – have sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) which you can read here. The letter is a preliminary step before proceedings are issued. The letter argues that the Ministry of Justice failed to use their discretion before revoking Gaie’s home curfew license. The deadline for the Ministry of Justice to respond is by 4pm on 31/01/2025.
Prior to sending this letter, Gaie’s legal team also submitted representations to the MoJ on 16/01/2025 asking them to revoke the recall, arguing that the failure to monitor Gaie is through no fault of Gaie’s but rather the inability to tag her is based on her physical disability and that smaller tags are more likely to be needed for females. Authorities were therefore under a duty to ensure the tags were made available. You can read those representations here.
Separate to the specific issue of the ankle tag and Gaie’s recall, Gaie’s legal team is also appealing the length of her custodial sentence underpinning all of this. When she was convicted in the summer, she was sentenced to a custodial sentence of 20 months and later released on tag before she was recalled. Gaie’s legal team is appealing the length of her sentence on the basis that it is highly unusual and disproportionate in the case of a peaceful protestor and that the judge failed to take Gaie’s and her fellow protesters’ motivation into account (i.e. that they had conscientious grounds). The Court of Appeal will hear that appeal this week on 29-30/01/2025.
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20/12/2024
Gaie recalled to prison
We’re dismayed to learn that at around 630pm on 20 December, Gaie was indeed recalled to prison. We continue to ask for your help to fund her legal fees, so that her team – Hodge Allen & Jones – can challenge this cruel decision.
This crowdfunder is now closed.
Thanks to your amazing support, we raised £30,206.07 towards Gaie’s legal costs.
If you’d like to support our general work, you can do so here: