SILVER AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUGDMENT
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(c) The following letters were stopped on the ground of failure to seek
the Home Secretary’s prior leave:
(i) Mr. Noe’s letter no. 10 to a solicitor, which included the following
passage: "... the property is going to be lost if you don’t come quickly - It is
worth 100 to £125,000 - the equity - after refinancing and allowing good
solicitor’s fees - will be £50 to £75,000 - of which you will have a piece
also";
(ii) Mr. Carne’s letter no. 49 to the Devon Crown Court, which
contained a request that medical reports produced at his trial be sent to his
Member of Parliament.
2. Prohibition on representations connected with the prisoner’s trial,
conviction or sentence (see paragraph 43 above)
61. This prohibition led to the stopping of Mr. Noe’s letter no. 8, which
was addressed to the Lord Chancellor but actually concerned legal
representation at the applicant’s appeal. Permission to send the letter was
later granted by the Home Office, apparently after the appeal had been
heard.
It was also a subsidiary ground for the stopping of Mr. McMahon’s
letters nos. 35 and 37 (see paragraph 59 above).
3. Prohibition on letters evading or circumventing the regulations (see
paragraph 44 above)
62. Mr. Silver’s letter no. 1 and Mr. Tuttle’s letter no. 18 (see paragraph
68 below), which pre-dated Instruction 45/1975 and Instruction 38/1977
respectively (see paragraphs 32 and 35 above), were also stopped on the
subsidiary ground that they therein asked their wives to do what they were
not allowed to do themselves: in the first case, to contact a solicitor
concerning an injunction against the Home Office in respect of prison
treatment and, in the second, to seek legal advice from the National Council
for Civil Liberties concerning control of correspondence.
4. Prohibition on discussion of the offences of others (see paragraph 45
(a), item (ii), above)
63. Mr. Silver’s letter no. 7, to his wife, was stopped as it contained the
following passage: "... one of my close neighbours in the prison is one of the
train robbers ... Another one who arrived here last Wednesday is one of the
two Asian brothers who reputedly killed .... McKay ..."
5. Prohibition on complaints calculated to hold the authorities up to
contempt (see paragraph 45 (a), item (iii), above)