Anarchist prisoner Toby Shone is being held in the Category B facility HM Prison Parc, a privately run prison in South Wales, despite being in reality a Category C or D prisoner who was eligible for Release on Temporary License (ROTL) on 21 January 2022, according to paperwork he received on 26th March 2022. ROTL is home leave from prison in preparation for release. Category B prisoners are not eligible for home leave.
Despite being found Not Guilty of political offences in court and with no evidence linking him to the website and publication 325.nostate.net, Toby is being held without legal process and without possibility of
redress as a Category B, High Risk prisoner where he is not eligible for ROTL (home leave). A probation official told Toby previously that his categorisation is a consequence of his anarchist beliefs, and the fact that he is considered by the authorities to act on those beliefs. This decision has been taken at a level above the Offender Management Unit (OMU) which is the unit Toby personally deals with.
His beliefs are also the reason that police are pursuing a Serious Crime Prevention Order against Toby which will allow the police to monitor and control all aspects of Toby’s life and monitor his associates for five
years. The Order means he can be imprisoned again for an additional five years should he breach the Order which is so intrusive, it would be
impossible not to. The hearing for the SCPO is on the morning of 6 May 2022 at Bristol Crown Court.
Toby was ghosted from HMP Bristol on Friday 18th March. While at Bristol, the prison withheld two parcels of legal papers sent by his legal team and which he has never received.
He was permanently confined to his cell at HM Prison Parc between March 18th and March 29th with no exercise, no time out of his cell except for one shower, minimal interaction (guards frequently just throw his food
on the floor and shut the door), and refusal of healthcare which he
requested due to an eye infection (he has now received treatment).
Unlike most prisons where you can purchase your own fruit and vegetables to supplement the prison food which is unfit for human health, HMP & YOI Parc deny prisoners this possibility by designating fresh food a “security risk”. They also force prisoners to choose between phone credit to stay in touch with loved ones and necessities from the prison shop. In most prisons, phone credit is additional to the weekly spend on extra food and toiletries, but at Parc phone credit has to be bought out of the weekly spend allowance.
Director of HM Parc, Janet Wallsgrove was awarded an OBE this year by the Queen for “services to the prison service”. HM Prison Parc is a leader in prison slavery and routinely locks young offenders and adults up beyond the legal limit. One prisoner on Toby’s wing has been locked up for 24 hours a day for 18 days. This is torture, but no surprise that Parc is running this kind of regime – this prison is run by G4S, whose guards are famous for murdering Angolan man Jimmy Mubenga on a crowded passenger plane on 12 October 2010.
