Behind the Curve

Kim, Kim, Kim...

I know you've been busy, but I take time to read YOUR site every day.... ;-)

I covered the story of UK teacher Linda Walker back in April. Turns out that she's been released already, but she's not a happy camper:

I felt I was being crucified by the full force of the law, says teacher jailed for waving air pistol at yobs

By David Harrison
(Filed: 08/05/2005)

A special needs teacher jailed for defending her home against a gang of thugs said last night that she felt as if she had been "crucified" by the system.

That's because she'd been crucified by the system.

Linda Walker, a middle-class mother-of-three described her time in prison as "humiliating". She was strip-searched, put on suicide watch, forced to go on hunger strike and suffered panic attacks during which she thought she would die.

Mrs Walker, 48, was jailed for brandishing an unloaded air pistol in front of a gang of thugs she believed had terrorised her family for two years while the police did nothing. Her sentence provoked outrage and her case became a symbol of Britain's law-and-order crisis.

Mrs Walker was released by the Court of Appeal last Wednesday after the judges said she should not have been jailed in the first place.

But she was. And that jailing was covered pretty heavily.

The result of which is another reminder to the populace not to "take the law into their own hands." Another "chilling effect" that keeps the sheep in their place.

Last night, back at her home in a Manchester suburb after spending 38 nights in jail alongside drug addicts, she spoke for the first time of her ordeal and how she felt let down by the criminal justice system.

Her and thousands of others.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, she said: "I've spent my life supporting the weakest and most vulnerable members of the community. But when I needed support from the establishment, not only was it not there, but the full force of the of the law came down on me like a ton of bricks. I felt like I was being crucified."

The nail that sticks up gets hammered down, goes the old Japanese proverb.

Her worst moment came two weeks into her sentence when she was told that her application to be released on bail had been refused. She felt there had been a conspiracy, that she was "an embarrassment to the Government" and that she was a "political prisoner", kept in jail "because I raised embarrassing and sensitive issues just before a general election".

I think that's getting to be the equivalent of a felony there. Don't embarrass those in power.

Come to think of it, it's getting to be a felony here.

"The issues were anti-social behaviour, gun crime, householders' rights and why there are so many women in prison.

"I felt so trapped, but I wasn't going to be swept under the mat. I told the prison governor I had kept quiet about my case but I had plenty I wanted to say."

Mrs Walker went on hunger strike for three days. She had a heart attack and thought she was going to die.

"It was two or three in the morning," she said. "I felt totally alone. The place was frightening and intimidating and feelings of helplessness overcame me. I'd had a panic attack during the day which caused my heart to pound at a frightening rate. I had never had one before.

"As I lay awake, it began to beat hard and fast again and I became desperately worried.

"My grandmother died of a heart attack after losing weight quickly. I had lost weight as a result of my hunger strike and I know that the heart is a muscle and if you lose weight too quickly, it can be seriously weakened.

"Alone in my cell, I became very frightened that I might die and never see my family again. I also felt petrified because I had no control over my own destiny and I felt people were conspiring against me."

Mrs Walker was found guilty of affray and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. She was sentenced to six months imprisonment by a Manchester court on March 29.

Meanwhile, the "yobs" who tormented her and her family are still out, free, and running around.

She felt, she said, "more like a naughty child than a criminal". After all, her crime was simply to confront a gang who for two years had made her family's life a misery through spiteful acts of vandalism.

Her shed had been broken into and bicycles stolen; garden ornaments had been dumped into her pond; there had been threatening telephone calls and petty acts of sabotage.

Goaded beyond endurance, she had fired an unloaded, gas-powered airgun into the pavement near the toes of the gang leader. Supporting her in court were her partner John Cavanagh, 57, her daughter Donna, 20, and her father Jim Mairs, 78, an ex-Royal Marine. Mrs Walker said: "I didn't take anything to court. I was not prepared for prison - not even a toothbrush.

"I was confident the pre-sentencing reports the judge had requested would keep me out of jail because it stated in one that prison would be 'highly inappropriate'."

When she was moved to Styal prison, near Manchester airport, the inmates treated her like a heroine. "Well done Linda!" they shouted. "You should have bazooka'd them."

Note that even the imprisoned think that fighting back is a good idea.

She was deluged with more than 2,000 cards and letters of support, including one from Tony Martin, the farmer jailed for killing a teenage burglar, and many from her pupils.

Mrs Walker said she would never forget her ordeal. "Some people lose everything when they go to prison. My experiences will live with me for ever. But I'm fortunate because I still have my home and my family."

I don't think they'd have let her out except for fear that she'd die in prison and become a martyr. Can't have that. And if they could have figured out a way to confiscate her property, I'm not too sure they wouldn't have done that.

I don't hold out much any hope for the UK any more. They're going to have to bottom out first. There's no chance to arrest their descent any more.