JENGbA (Joint Enterprise, Not Guilty by Association) has stepped up its push to end life sentences for children. The campaign group held a meeting that gave a platform to people directly affected.
A discussion followed, introduced by Daniel Adeyemi of the law firm DLA Piper. Andrea Coomber, the Howard League’s Chief Executive Officer, chaired it. It featured four young men who received life sentences while they were still children. All four remain on life-long licences.
The men described their shock at the time, and said their youth left them unable to understand what was happening. They had faced charges under the Joint Enterprise doctrine. They could not grasp why they ended up guilty of murder or manslaughter. None of them had taken any physical part in the attack.
They said they had no idea what was going on in the courtroom. They felt cut off from their families and even from their own lawyers. The licence still weighs on them today.
All four said the sentence, and the depression that followed it, had stolen their childhood.
Another young man sent a personal message from his prison cell, calling for this kind of punishment to end. He has been in jail since the age of 14 and has 12 years left to serve.
Mothers and lawyers
Four mothers also spoke about their lives. Each had a child convicted as a child; some of those children remain in prison, while others are now out.
Yvonne Belodini of JENGbA asked the women about the day of their sons’ convictions and their lives since. All four said the support of JENGbA and other families had carried them through long days and sleepless nights.
In the final session, Gloria Morrison of JENGbA led a discussion with an expert panel. They talked about the changes needed in the law and the urgency of action. The panel included Liat Tuv of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and Felicity Gerry KC.
Ms Gerry won the Jogee case at the Supreme Court 10 years earlier. In that ruling, the country’s highest court said Joint Enterprise had taken a wrong turn 30 years before. Since then, only two people have won appeals based on the judgment.
