INJUSTICE UNVEILED: SYSTEMATIC ABUSE
Joseph Maxwell Spencer’s imprisonment was a chaotic and torturous experience for him, given his sensory hypersensitivity as an autistic individual. The excessively noisy environment of the prison exacerbated his condition. Tragically, the Prison Services failed to comply with his disability Care Plan, leading to permanent physical disablement. Joseph now relies on a motorised wheelchair for mobility. This gross neglect and systemic abuse against him paint a distressing picture of his mistreatment in the Justice system.
On 13th April 2015, Joseph Spencer was arrested, and then was later remanded in prison custody by the police in May 2015.
In July 2015, his sensory disability began to manifest symptoms, first with insomnia and persistent gastro-intestinal symptoms. He was placed on prison psychology mental health talking-therapy for his depression and anxiety.
In March 2016, he began to experiencing recurrent tics-disorder, face and body twitching, with trouble standing upright or walk for a short period of time.
On 11th April 2016, he was convicted of sex offence, against his partner, based on Opinion-Evidence, contrary to the supposed-victim statement on the case.
On 12th May 2016, his appeal against the conviction was received by the Appeal Court Office.
By August 2016, the severity of his tics-disorder and twitching had been increased and worsened by uncontrollable hand movements, fingers flicking with brief jerky movements of his body and legs.
By November 2016, he began to experiencing full blown Tourettes with physical and verbal tics, and stooping when walking with motor coordination problem causing his walking direction to move in a zigzag, and had to lean against walls to maintain balance.
By January 2017, his motor coordination causing him to walking in zigzag motion with uncontrollable brief jerky movement in any part of his body when his sensory is heightened by the effect of the prison daily regime noise continues recurrently; corresponding to the symptoms of motor coordination disorder, or motor impairment.
By June 2017, he began to experiencing recurrent headache like sensory pains, extreme skin irritation to touch and sensation, emotional irritability and mood change, worsening communication deficits with recurrent loss of speech, and severe hypersensitivity to noise within the building from the daily security alarm noises, prisoners’ incessant excitability of banging on their cells doors and on radiator metal pipes that connects to rows of wing-cells and causing him recurrent gastro-intestinal symptoms.
By August 2017, he began to experiencing hallucinations and distress from sensory pains when his sensory is heightened from the effect of noise, causing him the irresistible impulse to put to destruction prison properties. The environmental damage to contents in every cell he was placed in prison continues, the last episode being 18-November-2019 due to the sensory trauma he suffered from drilling noise by prison workmen in the building. The prison management expressed non-compliance to his “DISABILITY CARE-PLAN” due to lack of resources for sensory disabled. Whereas, he was physically and mentally suffering and experiencing worsening symptoms in severity to taste, acid-reflux, severe slow-processing speed of information in the brain, hearing hypersensitivity to sound, eyes sensitivity to lights and blurry vision, with recurrent body aching; corresponding to the symptoms of sensory hypersensitivity disorder, or sensory disability.
By February 2019, his sensory disability heightened due to the sustained noise impacts of daily cells doors regime, sustained level of industrial kitchen chimney engine noise 24-hours round the clock on a daily basis located at the back of his cell-window, constant alarm noises, drilling noise by workmen and cells doors clonking and clanking loudly when closing, which reverberates and amplified causing him instantaneous sensory pains, indigestions and discomforts. During the subsequent months, he experienced acute trouble relaxing, insomnia and tension headaches. The constant feeling of tiredness, low energy and body aching kept him dependent on medication to treating his symptoms. He was constantly craving foods and always hungry, with trouble concentrating.
In November 2019, after being through recurrent state of going in and out of coma, he woke up one day with severe body aching and inability to stand upright or walk without support, and had to lean against walls and railings to be able to move. In December 2019, he began to experiencing the total inability to stand on his feet or walk; corresponding to symptoms of paralysis of the legs and weakness in his body.
In January 2020, he was released from prison on a wheelchair and now rely on a motorised wheelchair for mobility.
IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT JOSEPH SPENCER WAS TRANSFERRED BETWEEN MULTIPLE PRISONS DURING HIS TIME IN CUSTODY. HIS EXPERIENCE WAS NOT CONFINED TO A SINGLE PRISON FACILITY; RATHER, IT WAS A RECURRING PATTERN ACROSS EVERY PRISON WING HE WAS PLACED IN. WHEN A PRISONER DIED IN CUSTODY DUE TO DELIBERATE NEGLECT LIKE THIS, THE TERM USED TO MASK IT WAS “LESSON LEARNED.” MEANWHILE, WHILE THEY FAILED TO MEET HIS CARE NEEDS, HIS CORRESPONDENCE RELATED TO HIS APPEAL COURT PAPERS WAS REGULARLY INTERCEPTED, DELAYED, OR DESTROYED WITHIN THE PRISON TO PREVENT HIM FROM APPEALING HIS CONVICTION.