The Issue - Purpose of Petition

In 1997, the Protection from Harassment Act was amended by the UK government. The clauses that were inserted into the amended version of the act has resulted in individuals that lack social understanding/capacity due to a disability (Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Mental Health Conditions, Learning Disabilities etc), being criminalised under this law reform.

The Facts/Details

In section (1b), the act states that a person ‘ought to know their actions amounted to harassment of another’. Individuals with the conditions mentioned above don’t know due to understanding/capacity issues relating to their ability to function. Individuals with these types of conditions lack social understanding. This part of the act needs amending in order to allow the system to find an alternative to criminalising these individuals.

Section 2 of this act deals with the issue of sentencing. Individuals with these types of conditions shouldn’t receive a prison sentence if it is established that the individual’s intention wasn’t to harass or that they didn’t understand  that their actions amounted to harassment. ‘More than 70% of the prison population has two or more mental health disorders’ (Social Exclusion Unit, 2004, quoting Psychiatric Morbidity Among Prisoners in England and Wales, 1998). 70,000 people are currently in the prison system. It costs £65,000 to process an individual through the criminal justice system. £40,000 for an individual each year that they are incarcerated. This totals £105,000. Tax payers money. The average sentence for harassment is 2 years. This amounts to the grand total of £210,000. According to the Focus Prisoner Education website, ‘prisoners with health conditions cost more on top of that standard figure to accommodate in prison’ (Focus Prisoner Education, 2015, http://www.fpe.org.uk).

Punishment isn’t going to change a person with these types of conditions. There needs to be alternatives before an individual is entered into the criminal justice process. Those alternative routes would cost almost half of the costs incurred being processed through the criminal justice system. A criminal record can have a lasting impact on an individual's life. It can prevent the individual gaining employment involving working with children and vulnerable adults. A record can also prevent an individual traveling to some other countries. In some cases, a record can impact on securing a place to live. There have been disabled people who have had their children removed by child protection because of being criminalised for their problems. Police national computer records now keep all warnings, cautions and convictions on their database for 100 years. The difficulties that individuals with these types of disabilities have trying to establish a career and build a life is hard enough due to how the affects of their condition; without a criminal record. The general population assumes that everyone with a criminal record is ‘scum’. There is a general assumption that individuals that participate in criminal acts chose to act unlawfully. In this case, these individuals do not chose to act unlawfully because it’s caused by their condition.

There should be a clause added to the act that covers restorative justice. This will act as a preventative measure that stops misunderstandings. There are situations that turn into something more serious because of parties who should be effectively communicating but can’t due to the police involvement. Police involvement is never a positive way to deal with these kinds of situations. The officers scare vulnerable adults and cause stress/anxiety that they do not need with their already challenging disability issues.

This petition is asking the UK government to reform the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The 1997 enactment is having an impact widely within society. Uk laws form the framework for all government ran organisation’s guidelines and policies. Individuals with issues that affect their understanding and functioning are getting caught up in these legalities. They are constantly getting penalised for difficulties that isn’t their fault. It is very important that as many people as possible sign this petition to make our message clear that these changes are desperately needed. These legalities amended in 1997 are having a negative impact on the most vulnerable of society. They are basically being criminalised for their difficulties that they can’t help. We need to take a stand. Criminalising people who do not have malicious intent, just different ways of thinking and understanding problems etc is morally wrong… and the law should not be operating in this way.