Henry’s story – Glasgow.
Meet Henry who came to Rowanbank Clinic from a young offender’s institute in 2020. The advocate Henry worked with helped to appoint a lawyer who specialised in immigration law to help Henry progress his care plans.
“I accessed support from an advocate to liaise with a lawyer, to talk with my registered medical officer at Rowanbank and my mental health lawyer in Scotland. The clinic could not progress my rehabilitation plan in case I was arrested due to a pre-existing European arrest warrant that was outstanding in my home country. I felt stuck, degraded and frustrated.”
Henry’s care plan was at a standstill, causing him a lot of frustration, impacting his mental health and wellbeing. The situation was arguably, also in breach of Henry’s human rights.
In particular Articles 3, 5 and 6:
Article 3 protects the right to freedom from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Article 5 is the right to liberty and security.
Article 6 is the right to a fair trial.
As a result, his advocate and registered medical officer raised these potential breaches of human rights with the Mental Welfare Commission and engaged in discussions to establish the best way forward for Henry, considering his difficult and rare position.
It was decided that the registered medical officer would need to revoke the compulsion order and impose a short-term detention certificate so that Henry could legally consent to extradition as per his wishes.
Once this was complete the court issued a final hearing date for Henry to formally consent to extradition. Henry attended court with an advocate.
“I just wanted to move on, so I made the tough decision to return to my home country. I gave my consent to extradition at court. I was arrested by the fugitive unit.
It took two years to get the outcome I wanted, but throughout this period Circles Network helped to support me with several court cases and successfully helped me get out of hospital, achieving the outcomes I wanted.”
