Wi-Fi protester released from psych unit, ends up in prison over lapsed car insurance
Stephen Clarke, the Leixlip, Co. Kildare father who was incarcerated in a Northern Ireland psychiatric unit following a protest against denial of access to his children and their exposure to wi-fi in the classroom, has been imprisoned in the Maghaberry Prison.
The prison is a modern high security prison housing adult male long term sentenced and remand prisoners, in both separated and integrated conditions, located in Ballinderry Upper, Lisburn.
At his original arrest for climbing a sculpture in Belfast and planting a flag, Clarke was identifies by the Belfast Daily Mirror as a "peace protester" and taken to a psychiatric unit where he stayed for more than three months.
Emma Milligan of the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NIACRO) made contact Tuesday afternoon following an induction at the prison. NIACRO offers advice and support to people in prison, their families, people who have been released from prison and adults in the community who have offended. The publicly funded organisation provides information, advice and representation on subjects like benefits, housing and debt.
Ms. Milligan was unable to give any of the details regarding Clarke’s arrest and subsequent imprisonment, explaining innocently, “Obviously, he must have done something wrong.”
NIACRO's current newsletter is entitled "Stop The Silent Sentence".
According to Tim Fleming of the Irish in Britain Representation Group (IBRC) Clarke was released from the Mater Hospital psychiatric unit on the Crumlin Road, Belfast on Thursday, 25 Sept. 2014. While in the psychiatric unit Clark expressed relief that his car was safely off the road in a public car park. “Stephen Clarke was let out with no money after being locked up for 108 days,” explained Fleming. “He got into his car to drive himself home and the insurance had expired. He was arrested by the NI police.“
It is not known when Clarke’s auto insurance lapsed except that it happened during his stay in the psychiatric unit.
Mistakenly, Fleming was under the impression that Clarke would be free until he faced a judge on the insurance charge. Apparently he is out now but will be facing charges,” said Fleming. “Some justice, eh?” he added.
Milligan referred enquiries regarding Clarke to Brian Jennings of the Northern Ireland Department of Justice’s office within the prison which deals with prisoner communication, including visitations. “ I’m family support,” explained Jennings, “I run different family things in the prison. I’m here to basically run support. We go down the prison to help the patients and we do the same for people outside.”
For further information contact:
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Of particular relevance to Clarke's protest is the just-released presentation by Dr. Madga Havas, of Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada called, "Wi-Fi in schools is safe. True or false". (See link below.)
Claims Havas, “Wi-fi in schools is not safe. It promotes tumours in rats. It affects sperm motility and viability. I causes DNA damage. It causes rouleaux formation of the blood. It contributes to headaches, dizziness, nausea, weakness and concentration problems. It causes arrhythmiaand tachycardia. It damages the heart. It may cause heart irregularities in as many as 1 in 700 students. If half an hour a day exposure to cell phones contributes to brain tumours, can we be so sure that six hours of exposure to wi-fi in schools is safe?”
Havas reasons, “In the end can we afford to make mistakes...If you care about the health of students and teachers, share the video. And, if you have wi-fi at home, consider replacing it with a wired connection.”
John Weigel
Ireland
Please can you tell us what's happened to Stephen Clarke?
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