Case study: Kevan Thakrar says the high suicide and self-harm rates in CSCs are no surprise
Kevan Thakrar was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 35 years in jail in 2008 for the murder of three men in a dispute over drugs, and the attempted murder of two women who were in the house at the time. His brother, Miran, fired the shots but Kevan was convicted under the law of joint enterprise. After being accused of attacking prison guards at HMP Farkland, he was reportedly moved to a close supervision centre (CSC) in March 2010. The following year he was acquitted of two counts of attempted murder and three counts of wounding with intent in relation to the attack on prison guards, whom he admitted injuring but claimed he did so because he feared being attacked himself. Despite the acquittal he is believed to have remained in CSCs at different locations ever since.
Nils Melzer, the UN special rapporteur for torture, said of Kevan Thakrar: “For the past 11 years, he is being held alone in a cell for more than 22 hours a day, is not permitted to participate in regular prison activities, receives his food through a hatch and does not even have a privacy screen when using the toilet inside his cell.”
