On 23 December 2019, I was the victim of a cowardly racist attack at HMP Full Sutton’s Close Supervision Centre (CSC). The perpetrator hid, waiting for me to pass his cell to collect my meal from the servery, which was staffed by five prison officers, and as I held out my plate for the food, he was allowed to approach me from behind, walking straight past the security, carrying a weapon and stabbing me repeatedly in the back while growling ‘Die’. I turned around not fully aware of what was happening; he rapidly retreated from the room before the officers sought to prevent me from responding.
From the start, I called this as a set-up in which the officers worked with the perpetrator, Kevin McCarthy, against me, sharing the same racist ideology. It was evident, not only in the actual event, but in his preferential treatment following it – which included him not being removed from the unit for weeks and keeping in his possession his games console and a TV they supplied him with, and once eventually relocated to segregation, he was allowed to take the games console with him to a cushy cell. Contrasting this with them telling me that games consoles are only allowed for ‘enhanced’ prisoners and my current position of detention in a segregation unit cell with no electricity, makes this clear.
When I called this out, I was portrayed as an irrational complainer, but recent disclosure has proved my suspicions. In a document prepared by a government appointed lawyer, and signed by the CSC Operational Manager:
‘It is admitted that Mr McCarthy had previously expressed frustration with and dislike of [Kevan Thakrar] and, on 10 December 2019, expressed thoughts of harming [him]… staff were aware of this information and dynamic risk assessments were carried out thereafter.’
Within the CSC, these Dynamic Risk Assessment Meetings (DRAMs) are carried out at least weekly for thorough review, and before every unlock period to consider such serious and emergency responses as should occur following threats like McCarthy made. That means at least two full DRAMs occurred between the threats being made and the cowardly attack, which were attended by what they call the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) – who failed to take any action at all. This MDT included the specialist forensic psychologist contracted from Humberside mental health team to be the unit’s ‘clinical lead’, to identify problems such as this, and McCarthy’s allocated forensic psychologist, specifically appointed to reduce his risk of harm to others.
For no adjustments to be made to McCarthy’s supervision, no attempt to separate him from anyone, including me, and for no mention of any of it to be made to me, so I could at least be aware of a potential threat to my life, evidences the intent, corruption and racist views of this MDT and Full Sutton CSC staff in general. They knew this clown had previously attacked others from behind, even within the CSC, and had to be deemed a high risk of harm to others to be a CSC prisoner in the first place – so there can be no excuse for any of them.
It comes as no surprise to me that this vindication of my claims has surfaced, especially when considering the routine discrimination that occurs at HMP Full Sutton. One incident which illustrates this occurred during the height of the Black Lives Matter publicity in 2020, when the BBC rightly, but only following pressure, removed some racist material from its online platform. A gang of around six officers, obstructing the corridor and ignoring social distancing as usual, openly discussed their vehement objections to the ‘betrayal of the British public by the BBC’. The final contribution to this conversation, which they all concurred with, was that ‘There’s fuck all wrong with a bit of blackface’ and those that don’t like it ‘can fuck off somewhere else or back to where they came from’. When I reported this, using a Discrimination Incident Reporting Form, the CSC Custodial Manager responded that he had reminded staff not to have such conversations on the landings and to be aware that some people may take offence. In other words ‘it’s ok to be racist, just don’t let the n*****s and p***s hear you, boys’ was basically his message.
Anyway, that weasel McCarthy plea-bargained to GBH, as his actions in full view of multiple CCTV camera mandated prosecution, following which the same Custodial Manager wrote to tell me of the ‘zero tolerance to violence’ approach applied at Full Sutton which had enabled the criminal conviction.
They subsequently kicked me off the unit in an ‘emergency’ transfer – so something must have happened more serious than a racially motivated attempted murder, right? Well, no. The reason given states:
‘This decision has been taken due to your continued non-engagement with the multi-disciplinary team at Full Sutton. Despite consistent efforts by our team to promote an open channel of verbal communications, you continue to ignore the team other than to make general applications or meet your basic needs. Since your transfer to the unit at Full Sutton your level of engagement with a range of professionals has declined, including Chaplaincy and Gymnasium staff.’
Ignoring the fact that both named services have been suspended as part of the prison’s Covid lockdown measures, or that I have been repeatedly requesting a transfer since the attack on me, where were the attempts at open channels of verbal communication prior to enabling the known racist to try to kill me? When this entire MDT is culpable for the attack, what could I possibly want to speak to them about beyond any ‘immediate’ basic needs and when would this occur, considering I am subject to 22-23 hour a day lockdown, purportedly due to Covid? The fact that, unlike McCarthy, I have been located in the downstairs cells in the segregation unit, known locally as ‘the dungeon’, which still lack in-cell electricity supply, contrary to HMP recommendations following an inspection many years ago, shows this unofficial punishment for what it is. Although, having said this, 100% of the people of colour in the seg are in ‘the dungeon’, with ‘the penthouse’ being the exclusive reserve of white prisoners, who sit watching TV and get made ‘enhanced’ for shouting racist abuse, so maybe I am just not white enough to not be treated like an animal.
Kevan Thakrar
To discover more about Kevan Thakrar please visit www.justiceforkevan.org
You can write to Kevan at Kevan Thakrar A4907AE, HMP FULL SUTTON, Moor Lane, York YO41 1PS or via www.emailaprisoner.com
