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3 hours ago
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The Ministry of Justice has apologised to a black woman who suffered racist abuse in a prison’s mother and baby unit where her son was referred to as a “monkey”.
The incident, in which the baby was taken from his mother, happened at HMP New Hall near Wakefield in July 2018.
Investigations and years of litigation followed before the case was finally settled. The woman has now received a five-figure compensation payout and a detailed three-page apology letter from the Ministry of Justice. She also received an apology from Action for Children, a charity that lists the Princess of Wales as its royal patron, which was running the mother and baby unit at the prison.
The woman, who is of African heritage, cannot be named for legal reasons. Speaking to the Guardian, she said: “What happened to me was clear, direct racism. I’m scarred by it and I’m still suffering mentally. Getting a payout doesn’t change those feelings.”
The woman did not realise she was in the early stages of pregnancy with her son when she was sent to prison for two years after a fraud conviction. After he was born in July 2017, she was allowed to keep him at the mother and baby unit at HMP New Hall but said that on that unit she experienced racism for the first time in her life.
In the apology letter it was accepted that she was a “victim of racist abuse” by white prisoners on the unit. This abuse included her baby being referred to as a “monkey” and someone spitting in her drink.
The letter of apology stated that while it found no evidence that Action for Children operated in “a systematically racist and discriminatory manner” it accepted that a former employee made “racially emotive comments” to her. These included saying she should go back to her country on a banana boat and telling her: “You black people are too loud and aggressive.”
The mother’s baby was taken from her in July 2018 after an emergency separation meeting at the prison that she was not informed about. This separation was later found to be unjustified. He was taken to live with his grandmother.
“When they came to take my baby away from me I was breastfeeding him,” the mother said. “They [the staff] said: ‘That’s enough,’ and took him from me. I didn’t want them to see me cry so I started singing Christian songs in my language. It wasn’t until I was released five months later that I was reunited with him. I decided to fight what happened to me with a legal challenge, not just for me and my son but for the people who come after us.”
The woman’s solicitor, Jane Ryan from Bhatt Murphy, said: “The significant settlement sum and apology are an important acknowledgment of an unforgivable wrong, unjustifiably separating a baby from his mother. Racism on a mother and baby unit was a safeguarding issue and should have been treated as such.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We again offer our heartfelt apologies to the claimant for the failings in her care. HMP/YOI New Hall has since made significant improvements to its mother and baby unit, including introducing a full-time midwife and reviewing processes to better respond to complaints. The government has also launched a new Women’s Justice Board to reduce the number of women in prison, including mothers, and better support those who still must be imprisoned.”
An Action for Children spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise again and are very sorry for the racially emotive comments made by a former staff member in 2017, recognise this behaviour fell far short of what we expect, and have changed our processes to prevent any future similar occurrences. A joint management inquiry concluded there was no evidence that we operated in a systemically racist or discriminatory manner in this case, and we abhor racism in any form.”
