21
SILVER AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUGDMENT
64. Mr. Tuttle’s letter no. 17, addressed to his wife, was stopped on the
ground that it contained material deliberately calculated to hold the prison
authorities up to contempt.
This was also a subsidiary ground for stopping Mr. Carne’s letter no. 51
(see paragraph 68 below).
6. Prohibition on threats of violence and grossly improper language
(see paragraph 45 (a), items (iv) and (vi), above)
65. Mr. Cooper’s letters nos. 28, 29, 30 and 31, all addressed to his parents
were stopped on two grounds: that they contained threats of violence and
that they employed grossly improper language.
7. Prohibition on material intended for publication (see paragraph 45
(a), item (v), above)
66.
The following letters were stopped on the ground that they
contained material intended for publication:
(a) Mr. Silver’s letter no. 5, addressed to the Advisory Rabbi, The
Jewish Chronicle, and seeking dietary advice. The letter was stopped
although it was marked "Not for publication" and contained an express
request that, because of the rules of the prison, no part of it be published;
(b) Mr. McMahon’s letters nos. 32, 34 and 42, the first two being
addressed to the producer of a television programme and the third to a
newspaper.
This was also a subsidiary ground for stopping Mr. McMahon’s letter no.
37 (see paragraph 59 above) and Mr. Carne’s letters nos. 60 and 61 (see
paragraph 68 below).
8. Prohibition on the inclusion in letters to legal advisers and Members
of Parliament of unventilated complaints about prison treatment
(see paragraphs 45 (a) and (b) and 47 above)
67. The following letters, all addressed to Members of Parliament, were
stopped on the ground that they contained complaints about prison
treatment, in respect of which the "prior ventilation rule" had not been
observed:
(a) Mr. Noe’s letters nos. 9 and 11;
(b) Mr. Cooper’s letters nos. 20, 22, 23, 24 and 26, and a further letter
of 3 April 1974;
(c) Mr. Carne’s letters nos. 43, 45, 53, 54, 58 and 59, and further letters
of 27 December 1974 and 11 January 1975.
The stopping of letter no. 43, written whilst Mr. Carne was detained on
remand, was the subject of an unsuccessful petition to the Home Secretary;
the Government subsequently conceded before the Commission that the