Sean Hodgson case shows need for victims retreat - Rennie (Aberdeen South & North Kincardine Liberal Democrats)

Aberdeen South & North Kincardine Liberal Democrats <info@aberdeensouthlibdems.org.uk>

Sean Hodgson case shows need for victims retreat - Rennie

March 18, 2009 2:07 PM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats

Following the news that Sean Hodgson has been released after wrongly spending 27 years in prison, MP Willie Rennie has called for a Miscarriage of Justice Victims Retreat.

The MP, who has been working closely with Paddy Hill and Gerry Conlon from the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO), said that the retreat would provide essential counselling and psychaitric support to reintroduce victims back into society.Willie Rennie MP: Dunfermline & West Fife

Commenting on the news, Willie Rennie said:

'The innocent are treated worse than the guilty on release from prison. Sean Hodgson deserves access to a specialist retreat to help him acclimatise back into society. It's the least the Government should provide to repay for the suffering he has endured.'

'It's been twenty years since Paddy Hill was released. I don't want to wait for another twenty years before we get a retreat established.'

Notes:

Last week Mr Rennie met with Justice Minister David Hanson MP along with members of the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation, to demand progress on their proposal to provide victims of miscarriages of justice full residential and in-depth support upon leaving prison.

Willie Rennie has now tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling on the Ministry of Justice to provide effective counselling and psychological aftercare to the victims of miscarriages of justice.

The Early Day Motion reads:

expresses concern at the high number of miscarriages of justice which has led to 112 appeals for wrongful conviction being successful upheld by the Court of Appeal since 1997 and includes high profile cases such as the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six; recognises the trauma these victims have endured both during their imprisonment and after they have been released from prison; accepts that the severity of the trauma experienced by these individuals requires specialised counselling and aftercare that is currently not provided by the government; praises the work of the charity the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO) in helping those who have been wrongfully imprisoned reintegrate into society; and calls for the immediate establishment of a retreat to provide victims of miscarriages of justice with effective counselling and psychological aftercare to aid their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.